SEOUL, South Korea - Sylvester Teimet ran a personal best time to break the course record and lead a Kenyan sweep of the podium at the Seoul International Marathon on Sunday.
The 26-year-old Teimet pulled ahead in the final seconds to win the 42.2-kilometre race in two hours, six minutes, 49 seconds. His time was three minutes, four seconds faster than his previous best of 2:09:53 and beat South African Gert Thys' 2004 course record of 2:07:06.
Gilbert Kipruto Kirwa was second with 2:06:59 and Paul Kiprop Kirui took third in 2:07:35.
Teimet earned US$125,000 in prize money, including $45,000 for setting a course record.
In the women's race, Amane Gobena from Ethiopia won with a time of 2:24:13, ahead of China's Chunxiu Zhou finished in 2:25:01. Caroline Cheptanui Kilel of Kenya was third with 2:26:58.
About 23,170 athletes and ordinary citizens took part in Sunday's marathon, according to the Korea Association of Athletics Federations.
A 62-year-old South Korean man collapsed and died while running the marathon, according to eMax21, a Seoul-based firm that handled public relations and marketing activities for race. The exact cause of his death was not immediately known.