Photo/Illutration Kengo Suzuki crosses the finish line with a Japan record at the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon on Feb. 28. (The Asahi Shimbun)

Kengo Suzuki won the final Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon with a national record on Feb. 28, coming in under 2 hours and 5 minutes and becoming the first Japanese to finish the event first in 19 years.

Suzuki clocked 2 hours, 4 minutes and 56 seconds, topping the previous Japan record of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 29 seconds, held by Suguru Osako.

“Honestly, I am the one who was most surprised by what I did,” Suzuki, 25, said after crossing the finishing line.

Suzuki improved his previous best time of 2 hours, 10 minutes and 21 seconds by more than five minutes.

Having finished 12th at last year’s event, he said he had been pushing himself to the limit to shed the chagrin he felt a year ago.

He was the first Japanese to win the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon in 19 years.

The marathon partly runs along Lake Biwako in Shiga Prefecture and starts and finishes at the Ojiyama Stadium in Otsu, the prefectural capital. The 76th event on Feb. 28 was the last to be held along the current route and under the current name.

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