Tesfaye Abera & Meselech Melkamu score victories in Hamburg

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) ” Tesfaye Abera of Ethiopia won the Hamburg Marathon on Sunday, while countrywoman Meselech Melkamu dominated the women’s race and broke the course record by more than two minutes.

Abera, the world’s leading marathoner this season, covered the distance in two hours, six minutes, 58 seconds to beat two Kenyans. Philemon Rono was second in 2:07:20 and Josphat Kiprono finished third in 2:10:44.

Melkamu beat fellow Ethiopian Meseret Hailu by nearly five minutes, finishing in 2:21:54. Hailu was second in 2:26:26 and Anja Scherl of Germany placed third in 2:27:50.