Abdelkrim Boubker from Morocco won the 29th Athens Classic Marathon on Sunday clocking 2 hours, 11 minutes and 40 seconds, to cap a very successful event despite the adverse weather in the Greek capital.
Thirty-year-old Boubker broke away from the chasing pack at around the 30th kilometre and registered the third best time ever in the original course of the Marathon race.
Braving the cold and windy conditions, the Moroccan beat his personal best in this course by over three minutes.
Kenya's Kipkosgei Chumba was second (2:13:27) with his compatriot Daniel Ndiritu Gatheru third (2:16:12).
"I am very happy to finish first in this race. I have had some tough preparation for over three months for it," said Boubker seconds after claiming victory at the Panathenaic Stadium.
"This is the second Marathon race I have won this year after Leiden," he added, referring to the race in the Netherlands.
Last year's Athens winner, Raymond Bett, quit the race.
Dimitris Theodorakakos was the first among the Greeks and seventh overall with a time of 2:24:10. He has therefore won the Greek championship. Giorgos Karavidas was the second Greek and eighth overall.
The women's race was won by Ethiopean Elfenesh Melaku, who clocked 2:35:25.
"This was a difficult race as it had too many uphills," said Melaku. "It's good I have recorded a time close to my personal best."
She beat Kamila Khanipova of Russia by just six seconds.
Sofia Riga won the Greek championship timing 2:45:43.
Ethiopia's Kassahun Jebel won the men's 10,000-metre race, with Popi Astropekaki winning the women's.
In the 5,000 metres Constantinos Drosos won the men's race and Julia Nachyla the women's.
"We have managed to convince all those who doubted our capacity to organize the Marathon in Athens during the crisis - doubts which deprived us of a number of foreign runners - that we had no problems in hosting the event up to its usual standard," said the head of the organising committee, Costas Panagopoulos.
"We have had 8,500 runners in the Marathon proper and a total of 18,500 in all events. This is the figure we want," he added.
"The weather may have been difficult for the fans but not for the athletes," he suggested. Indeed, the northeasterly wind in Attica on Sunday was like a tail wind for the runners.
