Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Tsegaye Kebede, of Ethiopia, bettered his personal best time to win the Fukuoka international men's marathon for a second year running yesterday.

The 22-year-old Kebede left the last challenger and compatriot, Dereje Tesfaye, at around the 33-kilometre mark and made a long solo run to cross the finishing line in two hours five minutes 18 seconds.

"I was able to run faster than I had expected. I'm very, very happy about it," said Kebede, whose previous best time was 2:05:20 set at the London Marathon this season.

It was the ninth fastest time in the world and a new meet record, beating the previous mark of 2:06:10 he set when he won the same event last season.

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