Benson Kipruto won the Tokyo Marathon in 2:02:16 seconds on Sunday ahead of Eliud Kipchoge who came in 10th in 2:06:56 seconds.
Kipchoge was on the right shape to record something incredible but fell off the 10th leading runners at the 35km mark. Fellow Kenyans Timothy Kiplagat and Vincent Ngetich finished off second and third respectively.
-Speaking after the marathon, 39-year-old Kipchoge noted that everyday it is not Christmas but he will go back, relax and resume training to get ready for the upcoming Paris marathon.
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“That’s how it is — not every day is Christmas Day,” Kipchoge told Japan’s Nippon TV. “I will go back, relax and start training,” he continued.
The marathon comes barely a month after world record holder Kelvin Kiptum died following a grisly accident along  the Eldoret-Kaptagat road at the age of 24 years.
The car he was driving alongside his Rwandese coach Gervais Hakizimana and a female colleague hit the tree causing his death and that of the coach. Autopsy results revealed that he suffered multiple fractures on his skull causing the death.
Kiptum and Kipchoge were set to face off at the Paris Marathon for the first time, a race which Kenyans predicted would mark the entrance of Kiptum’s to the hall of fame.
