Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge won the Berlin Marathon but missed the world record by 37 seconds.
The Kenyan clocked an unofficial 2:03:34, just missing the three-year-old record of 2:02:57.
Countryman Dennis Kimetto set that mark at the 2014 Berlin Marathon.
The two other men chasing the record — Kenenisa Bekele and Wilson Kipsang — faded at about 13 and 18 miles, respectively. They reportedly both dropped out.
Instead, the runner-up was surprise Ethiopian Guye Adola, who ran the fastest debut marathon ever on a record-eligible course in an unofficial 2:03:46.