TOKYO, Japan -- National team member Arlan Arbois Jr. submitted his personal best time at the 2025 Tokyo Marathon on a chilly Sunday, March 2, that started at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku and ended in front of the Imperial Palace here.

Arbois, a silver medalist in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 23 seconds to eclipse his previous best of 2:26:38 set in a local race last December in this race that served as the first of the seven “majors” in the world marathon scene.

His time was enough to put him at 125^th place out of the thousands of runners who joined, and 24 minutes slower than Ethiopian Tadese Takele, who timed 2:03:23 to rule the men's division. Deresa Geleta, another Ethiopian, came in second in 2:03:51, while Kenyan Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich finished third in 2:04:00.

Arbois also surpassed his previous performance in this race last year, where he clocked 2:32:55.

“I’m really happy with my performance,” said Arbois in Filipino, who was supported by ASICS and was wearing the latest shoes in the Kumadori Collection Limited Series.

“I wasn’t expecting to surpass my best time because I didn’t have enough time to train, but I’m really glad I was able to perform well,” added the Tupi, South Cotabato native, who has only been with the PH team since 2023.

Arbois said he had little trouble navigating the 42.195-km course despite the weather temperature reaching as low as 9 degree Celsius in the early stretch of the race.

He, however, felt some muscle strain after reaching the 30-km mark, but soldiered on, noting that the stability of his shoes did wonders in crucial stretches.

Meanwhile, fellow PH athlete Richard Salaño, whose trip was supported by ASICS, posted 2:28:40 -- four minutes short of his personal best to finish at 174th.

Salaño admitted he encountered problems after passing the 35-km stretch, feeling the wind biting on his skin that caused him to slow down.

“I thought I was going to collapse. My vision briefly blacked out. It was the first time that happened to me,” said Salaño in Filipino.

“I had a good start. I was checking my pace for the first 34 kilometers and thought that I could do 2:22:00 if I kept up. But my body just went cold all over,” he added.

Salaño said he’ll take time to recover before focusing on his next race -- the Sydney Marathon in Australia on Aug. 31.

A total of 38,000 runners competed in the race that also has various events, with another Ethiopian in Sutume Asefa Kebede bagging the gold in women's division with a time of 2:16:31 ahead of Kenya’s Windridah Moraa Moseti (2:16:56) and Ethiopia’s Hawi Feysa (2:17:00).