Olympian Cesar Lizano Cedeno sealed his second successive AbbottWMM Marathon Tours & Travel Age Group World Championship title when won the M40-44 age group on Sunday.
The Costa Rican athlete, who finished 65th at the 2012 London Olympic Games, finished the TCS Sydney Marathon presented by Asics in 2:24:15.
Jean-Pierre Ane of France was second in 2:27:12, with Ubaldo Blanco of Mexico third in 02:32:14.
Ingrid Cree of New Zealand took the women’s 40-44 crown with a time of 2:46:46. The women’s champion of this year’s Christchurch Marathon finished more than three minutes in front of the USA’s Laena Romond, with Russia’s Olga Shibalina in third.
Further up the age groups, Australia celebrated its own world champion as Bendigo’s Jill Wilkie stormed to a second consecutive age group gold medal in the F55-59 division with victory in 3:00:05.
A fierce battle raged in the M55-59 category, as Mustapha Lhamzi edged out Belgium’s Tom van Ongeval by just 18 seconds. Van Ongeval, the 2022, 50-54 champion, now has three consecutive podium finishes in championship races having come second in 2021 and again in 2023.
At the top end of the age groups, the men’s 80+ division was won by the USA’s Myung Joon Kim in 4:24:32, while Canada’s Liz Borrett took the F80+ crown in 5:52 as she became the oldest woman to complete a marathon in Australia.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Koichi Kitabatake became the oldest person to run a marathon on Australian soil.
The 90-year-old finished the course in seven hours, 23 minutes and 22 seconds, finishing fourth in the 80+ age group.
In the M75-59 race, defending champion Gene Dykes lost his title to Switzerland’s Martin Fluckiger, who won in 3:41:29, some seven minutes ahead of the American age group record holder.
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