Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    ETHIOPIAN runners Bejiga Egasa Mndaye and Ayele Tsegereda Girma won the men’s and women’s championships, respectively, at Saturday’s Shenzhen International Marathon.

    The marathon attracted 25,000 runners from 30 countries and regions, including China, Kenya, Ethiopia, France and Germany.

    Mndaye broke the tape for the full-length race at 2:14:53, and Girma won the women’s championship at 2:37:22.

    Because the two champions failed to beat the thresholds of 2:11:00 for the men’s group and 2:30:00 for the women’s group, their championship awards were lowered from US$30,000 to US$20,000. Event organizer, Shenzhen Angel Food Co., offered a total of US$142,000 to the top eight runners in the men’s and women’s divisions.

    Among the Chinese runners, Si Guosong won the first place at 2:38:34. It is the third year he has won the title among Chinese runners.

    Along with US$1,000 awarded to Si as the No. 8 ranked runner, Si also got 2,000 yuan (US$312.5) from the organizers, an extra prize reserved for the top 10 Shenzhen runners in the men’s and women’s divisions. “Because of a few hills and some wind, I ran about 4 to 5 minutes slower than I expected,” said Si.

    Li Ji, a teacher at Shenzhen University, won the championship in the women’s group for Chinese runners.

    Among the runners, the Shenzhen U Running Club, a team made of 27 visually impaired people, 127 volunteers and 19 runners from Hong Kong, were cheered on when they finished the 6-kilometer route.

    In the half-length race, 74-year-old Chen Naizhao completed his race in two hours.

    “My wife also applied for the race, but she wasn’t lucky enough to get a chance to run,” Chen said. Chen and his wife began running in 2011. This was his 11th marathon.

    Along Saturday’s full-length route, 78-year-old Chen Guo-sheng earned the most cheers from spectators. This was the second year he made the full-length run. “I haven’t gone to see a doctor in the past few years since I started running and I am now in good health,” said Chen, who runs about 70 kilometers a week.