The story appears on

Page A5

November 19, 2018

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Metro

New record set in rainy day city marathon

An Ethiopian runner set a new women’s record in the Shanghai International Marathon, which featured 38,000 runners from 85 countries and regions.

The 25,000 runners took part in the full marathon, 6,000 in the 10km race and 7,000 in the 5.5km event. Yebrgual Melese Arage was the first female runner to cross the finish line at Shanghai Stadium, clocking 2:20:37, breaking the previous record of 2:21:52 set by her compatriot Tigist Tufa in 2014.

The men’s winner was another Ethiopian runner Seifu Tura Abdiwak, with a time of 2:09:20 in his maiden Shanghai race.

The rain meant good air quality for the race, and relatively low temperatures, especially at the early stage of the race, ideal conditions for elite marathon runners. According to the organizers, 96 percent participants completed their races.

“It’s a bit cold today, but thankfully there is not much wind which could have made the race even more challenging,” said Guan Yousheng, the first Chinese runner to cross the finish line. He completed the 42 kilometers in two hours and 18 minutes — about two minutes more than his personal best.

“The atmosphere was great and course very smooth. This is my first Shanghai International Marathon, though I have heard a lot about its good organization before. I hope I can keep coming back,” said the 24-year-old Guizhou native.

Marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya attended the event as a guest, and fired the starting pistol. The 34-year-old set a world record for men of 2:01:39 on September 16 in Berlin.

According to the organizers, over 6,000 runners from overseas took part this year.

Nearly 4,000 volunteers and 1,000 medical staff were in attendance.

The races all involved visually impaired runners who ran in the company of their guides. A 20-member wheelchair team, mostly members of the Shanghai wheelchair fencing team, also caught the attention of spectators.

“Most international marathon events involve disabled runners,” said Zhou Jin, general manager of organizer Shanghai Donghao Lansheng Event Management Company. “The practice is still in its infancy in domestic events, but we intend to continue our cooperation with the Shanghai Disabled Persons’ Federation.”




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend