The start of the 2006 Beijing Marathon (© Getty Images)
With celebratory lion dancers setting the tone for the day, the ANA Beijing International Marathon set off from Tiananmen Square under cool, cloudy skies this morning (15). The reported temperature for the 8 a.m. start was 61 degrees Fahrenheit (16 degrees Celsius), with 77% humidity – slightly warmer and muggier than would be ideal for a championship marathon but plenty comfortable for the many spectators who made their way to Tiananmen, ringing the road around the square to see the race start. And also comfortable enough for winners James Kwambai of Kenya and Sun Weiwei of China.
On the men's side, Kwambai won in 2:10:36, with countryman David Kipkorir, the winner of this year's Rome Marathon, coming in second ten seconds behind him. Japan's Takehisa Okino was third in 2:12:24. Kwambai won a US$20,000 prize but missed out on the $5000 bonus awarded for sub-2:10 efforts.
The women's race has traditionally been dominated by Chinese runners, and this year was no exception, as seven of the top ten athletes hailed from the People's Republic. The overall winner was Sun Weiwei in 2:34:41, who hopped with joy after crossing the finish line and being inundated by Chinese television journalists. Sun took home the first prize of US$ 15,000. Second place went to Kenya's Pamela Chepchumba in 2:34:51, the winner of last month's Lisbon Half-Marathon, and third prize went to Chen Rong of China in 2:34:57. The race was closely fought and the competitors evenly matched, as all of the women in the top ten finished within a time span of two minutes and thirty-one seconds.
The race stretches through the western section of the city after departing from Tiananmen, threads north and finally ends up at the National Olympic Sports Center in north-central Beijing, the future home of National Stadium (the "bird's nest"), which will be the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies and the track and field competition for the 2008 Olympic Games.
This was the twenty-sixth annual running of the Beijing Marathon. In addition to its status as one of Asia's premier marathons, this year's race served as the tenth Asian Championships (the Asian Championship marathon is held once every two years).
Kim Kum Ok, Zhang Shujing, and O Kyong Sun placed 1-2-3 in the Asian Championships competition on the women's side, while Kenichi Kita of Japan (2:15:37), Mamshayev Takhir of Kazakhstan (2:15:58) and Yohei Sato (2:16:39), also from Japan, took the top three spots on the men's side.
Top Finishers:
MEN -
1. James Kwambai – Kenya – 2:10:36
2. David Kipkorir – Kenya – 2:10:46
3. Takehisa Okino – Japan – 2:12:24
4. Kenei Kiprotich – Kenya – 2:12:44
5. Teruto Ozaki – Japan – 2:13:28
6. James Moiben – Kenya – 2:14:07
7. Masakazu Matsuura – Japan – 2:14:08
8. Ren Longyun – China – 2:15:13
9. Li Youcai – China – 2:15:29
10.Kenichi Kita – Japan – 2:15:37
WOMEN -
1. Sun Weiwei – 2:34:41 – China
2. Pamela Chepchumba – Kenya – 2:34:51
3. Chen Rong – Hebei, China – 2:34:57
4. Gai Yanyan – China – 2:35:03
5. Kim Kum Ok – DPR of Korea – 2:35:16
6. Zhang Shujing – China – 2:35:24
7. Zheng Wenrong – China – 2:35:29
8. Wang Xiaoshu – China – 2:36:06
9. O Kyong Sun – DPR of Korea – 2:36:48
10. Su Si – China – 2:37:12
Mary Nicole Nazzaro for the IAAF, with Nat Green in Beijing
