Rescued miner improves time

Tokyo - Chilean miner Edison Pena completed the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, shaving more than 30 minutes off the time he set in New York in his second such race since he was among the 33 men rescued in October.

The 35-year-old Pena had been training more than 6 miles a day and it showed, as he finished the race through the streets of downtown Tokyo in 5 hours, 8 minutes, 19 seconds. In the New York City Marathon, he ran and walked on bad knees to finish in 5 hours, 40 minutes on November 7.

"It was not like the New York Marathon," Pena said. "I didn't walk, I ran the entire time."

Pena jogged through tunnels while trapped underground, and word of his dedication inspired New York City Marathon organisers to invite him to watch the race. Instead, he asked to run it.

Pena said there may be more marathons in his future.

"It's just a big challenge for me," Pena said. "It's an incredible thing to do and it's just amazing to be able to do something like this for a second time. I felt very good about my result today."

Executives from Remo System, a Japanese maker of shoe inserts and other training products, were in New York for the marathon and were moved to invite him to Tokyo. They worked with Fuji TV to get him into Sunday's race.

Remo plans to donate 2 000 pairs of shoes to needy Chileans in his honour.

Results from 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