The women's marathon was literally a blood-and-guts effort, with Misiker Demissie winning in large part because she managed to avoid shedding either.
In an African 1-2-3, the Ethiopian took home a bumper cash prize after finishing well ahead of compatriot Shitaye Gemechu and the Kenyan 2009 winner, Winfrida Kwamboka Nyansikera, when their hopes were harmed by injury and illness respectively.
Demissie's time of two hours, 30 minutes and 12 seconds demolished by 3 1/2 minutes the mark set last year by Janet Rono. The first four finishers all broke the old course record.
Demissie, 24, might have had a tougher challenge had it not been for the afflictions besetting her rivals. Gemechu limped to the registration hut afterwards, the front of her right shoe many shades darker red than the rest of it because of the blood that had been pouring from a wound from almost the start of the race. Nyansikera, meanwhile, could only watch Demissie head off into the distance while the Kenyan was doubled over vomiting.
'It was fairly easy and comfortable,' said Demissie. She finished a minute and 32 seconds ahead of Gemechu, with Nyansikera three seconds behind. North Korean hopeful Kim Kum-ok, who won in 2008, was a distant fourth.
'I felt I was going to win the whole way round, even though the girls behind me are strong athletes,' Demissie said. 'The weather was quite warm, but it wasn't too bad and, though the course is very hard with a lot of hills, where I train there are a lot of hills, too.'