Kenya’s marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge on Sunday bounced back from the London Marathon loss last year to bag the NN Mission Marathon.

Kipchoge finished the marathon held at the Twente Airport in Enshede, Netherlands in 2:04:30, with the race being his final one before the Olympics.

He led in most of the race and kept pushing until he crossed the finish line with a smile, knowing he needed the motivation ahead of the Olympics to be held in Tokyo, Japan in July.

Another Kenyan, Jonathan Korir, emerged second with a Personal Best of 2:06:40 followed by Eritrea’s Goitom Kifle in third place with 2:08:00.

Uganda’s Stephen Kiprotich, the 2012 Olympic marathon champion, emerged fourth with 2:09:00, with another Kenyan, Mathew Sang, crossing the finish line in seventh position.

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“It was a bit windy but I can say the race was perfect. This marathon was the real test towards Tokyo Olympics,” said Kipchoge after the race.

The unique race orchestrated by Kipchoge’s NN management together with the organisers of the Hamburg Marathon and saw more than 100 elite athletes fight it out to hit the qualifying standards for the Olympics.