Sweden's Larsson wins the Stockholm marathon while Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi finished 4th

“Today I felt the spectators helped me pull out something extra over and over again. It was absolutely fantastic,” Mikaela Larsson told Sweden’s SVT broadcaster. “I’m tired but terribly happy. I hadn’t expected this beforehand.” At the 30km mark, Larsson spurted ahead of her Ethiopian rival Beju Bekelu, building a lead of three minutes and 27 seconds by the finishing line. In the run-up to the start, many had feared that the 27C temperatures would mean runner collapsing from heat exhaustion, but the arrival of clouds just before the start made the contest slightly cooler than expected. Kenyan Lawi Kiptui won the men’s competition with a dramatic finish which saw him overtake and power ahead of his Ethiopian rival Bazu Worku. “It was an extremely hot race,” Kiptui told SVT. “I focused on nothing but winning.” Boston Marathon winner Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi finished fourth nearly 10 minutes behind the winner. 

posted Saturday June 2nd