Running

The 36th Spartathlon race was completed last weekend as Japanese runner Yoshihiko Ishikawa finished first with an impressive time of 22 hours, 55 minutes and 13 seconds.

Greece is gearing up for the 36th version of Spartathlon, the ultramarathon race that covers 246 kilometers from Athens to Sparta and starts on Friday.

Treading on the footsteps of ancient messenger Pheidippides, the grueling race will this year have 387 participants who hail from 51 countries. They once again include Greek American ultramarathon superstar Dean Karnazis.

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge set a new marathon world record in Berlin on Sunday, smashing the previous best as he clocked 2hr 1min 39sec.

The 33-year-old Olympic champion, aided by a string of pacemakers through to 25km of the 42.195km race, took 1min 18sec off the previous best set four years ago by Dennis Kimetto.

A marathon runner's dramatic collapse struck a sour note on the last day of the Commonwealth Games on April 15 as hosts Australia finished runaway winners on the medals table with 80 golds.

Istanbul hosts athletes for marathon

Athletes from Ethiopia won four of the six medals in the 13th Vodafone Istanbul Half Marathon that was held in Turkey's largest city on April 8.

Kathrine Switzer will compete in the London Marathon for the first time in April, the American said, 51 years after becoming the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon.

Tens of thousands of runners braved smoggy conditions for the Delhi half marathon on Nov. 19 despite dire health warnings from doctors who wanted the race postponed in the heavily-polluted capital.

Kenyan athletes dominated the 39th Vodafone Istanbul Marathon on Nov. 12 in which tens of thousands of people from around the world ran from Asia to Europe.

Thousands of people participated in the 39th Istanbul Marathon, the world’s only cross-continental race held for the future of the children this year.