Mekonnen's time was 11 seconds off the race record set by Switzerland's Viktor Rothlin in 2008. Kenyan Paul Biwott was second with a time of 2:08:17 while Japan's Yuki Kawaguchi took third in 2:08:37.

World marathon record holder Haile Gebrselassie withdrew from the race on Thursday after the Ethiopian bruised both knees in training recently.

Russia's Tatiana Aryasova won the women's race with a time of 2:27:29, 1 minute, 20 seconds ahead of Japan's Noriko Higuchi. Tatiana Petrova, also of Russia, was third in 2:28:56.

The fifth running of the Tokyo Marathon had a total of 33,353 participants.

All Results of the Tokyo marathon:

Men
1. Hailu Mekonnen (ETH) 2hr 07min 35sec
2. Paul Biwott (KEN) 2:08:17
3. Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) 2:08:37
4. Yoshinori Oda (JPN) 2:09:03
5. Cyrus Gichobi Njui (KEN) 2:09:10
6. Felix Limo (KEN) 2:10:50
7. Takaaki Koda (JPN) 2:11:08
8. Salim Kipsang (KEN) 2:11:25
9. Yemane Tsegay (ETH) 2:11:49
10. Takashi Horiguchi (JPN) 2:12:05

Women
1. Tatiana Aryasova (RUS) 2:27:29
2. Noriko Higuchi (JPN) 2:28:49
3. Tatiana Petrova (RUS) 2:28:56
4. Yoko Shibui (JPN) 2:29:03
5. Misaki Katsumata (JPN) 2:31:10
6. Sumiko Suzuki (JPN) 2:32:02
7. Rina Yamazaki (JPN) 2:32:51
8. Shoko Miyazaki (JPN) 2:33:10
9. Yumi Hirata (JPN) 2:33:14
10. Olena Burkovska (UKR) 2:33:30