TOKYO, Nov 18: Ethiopia’s Derartu Tulu took the lead in the last three kilometers (1.8 miles) and held on to win the Tokyo International Women’s Marathon on Sunday, beating Irina Timofeyeva of Russia by 21 seconds.

The 29-year-old Tulu, the winner of the 10,000-meter event in both the 2000 Olympics and 2001 World Championship, covered the 42.195-kilometer (26 miles, 385 yard) course in two hours, 25 minutes, eight seconds.

Timofeyeva, the 31-year-old runner-up in the 1999 Paris Marathon, was second with a time of 2:25:29 and Bruna Genovese of Italy was third at 2:25:35.

Tulu moved ahead 39 kilometers (23.4 miles) into the race after running shoulder-to-shoulder with the Russian for two kilometers (1.2 miles).

A field of 279 runners, including 10 foreigners, competed in clear weather. The temperature was 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit).—AP/APP