Chinese Chen
Rong, Mongolian Batochir
take marathon gold amid rain
Chinese runner Chen Rong won
the women's race in the Beijing Marathon, which finished
at National Stadium on a rainy Sunday morning Apr. 20.
The 20-year-old clocked two
hours, 30 minutes and 42 seconds.
Compatriot Zhou Chunxiu was
second, clocking two hours, 37 minutes and 49 seconds,
18 minutes behind her best record of two hours, 19
minutes and 51 seconds. She said: "I just view it as a
part of my traning in my preparation for the Olympic
Games."
Zhu Xiaoling from Liaoning
Province finished third. Although Zhou and Zhu both
clocked 2h:37m:49s, Zhou placed ahead because her
swifter sprint.
Mongolian Batochir Serod won
the men's race in a personal best time of 2:14:15 and
Chinese Li Zhuhong was second.
The 26-year-old Mongolian had
started the race slowly, only to keep himself in the
seventh place at the 10km marker. He pushed himself into
second place at the halfway stage and then grabbed the
lead by the 35km marker.
As he entered the National
Stadium in the Olympic Green, he had a comfortable
advantage over his rivals and finished over a minute
faster than silver medallist Zhuhong Li (CHN). The
stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies,
athletics events and men's football finals.
The route of the marathon will
be the same as the Olympic route, starting at Tian'anmen
Square and ending at the National Stadium, also known as
the Bird's Nest. Runners will pass the scenic districts
of Xuanwu, Dongcheng, Chongwen, Xicheng, Haidian and
Chaoyang.
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