Alisa Vainio wins European marathon title by record margin

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Finland’s Alisa Vainio won the women’s marathon at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on Sunday, finishing almost five minutes ahead of her nearest rival and setting a championship record of 2:22:26.

The 28-year-old led from the opening stages and completed most of the race alone.

Vainio finished four minutes and 55 seconds ahead of Hungary’s Lili Anna Vindics-Tóth, who took silver in 2:27:21.