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| Sun Yingjie of China crosses the finish line to
win the women's title of the 2004 ANA Beijing International Marathon
in two hours, 24 minutes and 11
seconds. [Xinhua] |
The defending champion, China's Sun Yingjie, secured her title at the
2004 ANA Beijing International Marathon on Sunday in two hours 24 minutes
and 11 seconds. Two other Chinese runners, Zhou Chunxiu from Jiangsu and
Dai Yanyan from Beijing, finished second and third.
Zhou, the winner of this year's Xiamen Marathon, clocked two hours 28
minutes and 42 seconds, while Dai finished the course one minute 16
seconds later.
James Moiben from Kenya won the men's title in two hours 10 minutes and
42 seconds.
Sun's victory still left her dissatisfied with her result.
"I'm not feeling very well today," said Sun, who made the best women's
time last year in two hours 19 minutes and 39 seconds. "There were too
many runners during the first 15 kilometres, which delayed me a lot. I
think the starting time of men and women, that the men's running started
at 8:31, while the women's race set off 15 minutes later, should be
reconsidered next time. Professionals and amateurs should also be divided."
Beating South African Ian Syster, the men's defending champion, and
Japan's Kushibe Seiji in the 33 kilometres, Kenyan Moiben, also the winner
of the 2004 Xiamen Marathon, led the way far ahead during the rest of the
course and raised his personal best by 12 seconds.
 "I'm very happy to win in China again," he said. "The cloudy
weather affected me a little but I tried my best. I hope to run in China
again. China is my lucky place."
Christopher Isegwe from Tanzania came in second in two hours 10 minutes
56 seconds and Ri Kyong-chol from the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea came up third in two hours 15 minutes 24 seconds.
China's Gong Ke from Liaoning Province finished fifth in 2:15.48.
Besides a high-level competition for these professional runners, the
Beijing marathon, which started at Tian'anmen Square and ended at the
National Olympic Sports Centre, is also a running festival for
long-distance fans from home and abroad.
The Beijing marathon this year attracted 25,016 participants
altogether, the largest count in 24 years' history of the event.
"The marathon is very hard and very long," said Andrew Wanliss-Orlebar
from England. "This is my first marathon and I came to Beijing specially
for it. I didn't expect to do so long - 42.195 kilometres. I'm very
pleased."
(China Daily) | 
Updated: 2004-10-18 09:41