Ethiopia's Lemi Bernanu Hayle and Atsede Baysa won at the 2016 edition of the Boston Marathon, the 120th running of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race, crossing the line in 2:12:44 and 2:29:19 respectively on Monday (18).

Hayle pulled away from defending champion and Ethiopian compatriot Lelisa Desisa with about a mile to go as the latter came home wearily 47 seconds in arrears with Yemane Tsegay finishing third in 2:14:02, just holding off the Kenyan former champion Wesley Korir by three seconds.

The hot weather in the second half of the race, with temperatures over 20 degrees Celsius, contributed to the modest times.

( Photo: Haspa Marathon Hamburg / Hochzwei ) Ethiopia’s Meselech Melkamu smashed the course record by more than two minutes in the Haspa Marathon Hamburg. Finishing in 2:21:54 despite windy conditions she made a strong statement regarding the selection of Ethiopia’s marathon Olympic team. Fellow-Ethiopian and defending champion Meseret Hailu was second with 2:26:26 while Germany’s Anja Scherl caused an upset with a tremendous run for third place. Improving by more than eight minutes to 2:27:50 she has secured Olympic selection.

Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Abera took the men’s race in 2:06:58. Achieving his second marathon win this year after taking Dubai in a world lead of 2:04:23, he should gain selection for the Olympic team. Kenyans Philemon Rono and Josphat Kiprono followed in second and third with 2:07:20 and 2:10:44 respectively.

(photo:Haspa Marathon Hamburg / Hochzwei )A quintet from the impressive stable of Ethiopia's world class runners will be aiming for top times with Olympic selection in mind at the Haspa Marathon Hamburg on Sunday. Among those striving for the trip to Rio will be the fastest man in the world at the distance this year, Tesfaye Abera. The 24 year old triumphed in Dubai in January with his lifetime best of 2:04:24. His key rivals should include compatriots Feyisa Bekele and Abayneh Ayele, the latter having finished fourth in the Word Half Marathon Championships in March. In the women's field, Meseret Hailu returns to defend her title and this looks a tough task with her fellow Ethiopian Meseret Melkamu in the field, whose best of 2:21:01 is eight seconds faster than Hamburg's 2015 champion. This contest looks capable of putting the women’s course record of 2:24:12 under severe pressure while the quality of the men's field also suggests their course record could be threatened. The current holder is Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge who ran 2:05:30 three years ago. Taking into account various events held in conjunction with the main race, approx. 23,000 runners have entered the 31st edition of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg.

Philipp Sanga is the fastest runner on the start list of the METRO GROUP Marathon Duesseldorf on 24th April. He features a personal best of 2:06:07. A number of fellow Kenyans plus defending champion Marius Ionescu of Romania are among the men’s elite runners. This was announced by the organisers today. Late entry for the METRO GROUP Marathon Duesseldorf, where the finish is besides the river Rhine, is still possible at: www.metrogroup-marathon.de