Sun Yingjie leads the 10,000m Final in Paris (© Getty Images)
China's up and coming women's long distance runner Sun Yingjie Sunday broke the Asian marathon record by winning the Beijing marathon in a time of 2:19:39, leading a Chinese sweep in the event.
Sun ran unchallenged throughout the race and became only the fourth woman in history to break the 2hr 20min barrier for the distance.
Zhou Chunxiu clocked 2:23:41 to finish second and Zhang Shujing came in third with a time of 2:27:57.
Sun, who came second in Beijing last year and was the bronze medallist in the women's 10,000m on the track at the World Championships in Paris in August, said she hoped to do even better in future marathon events.
"The result is good enough for me. I was not in good form recently because I took part in too many races this year," Sun said after collecting the 20,000-dollar first prize.
"I had no idea about the champion's bonus, because I felt very tired since I returned from Paris and I didn't think I could win medals here." Sun beat the existing Asian women's marathon record of 2:19:46 set by Japan's Naoko Takahashi in 2001.
The 24 year-old runner is one of the most exciting talents to emerge from China since the remarkable performances of Chinese women in the 1990s.
China holds the women's world records in the 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m events, all set under the guidance of controversial track coach Ma Junren, whose turtle blood tonics and daily marathon training courses became legendary in track and field circles.
In the men's marathon Sunday, South Africa's Ian Syster clocked 2:07:49 to win, followed by Jonathon Cherono of Kenya in 2:14:00 and Ashebire Demisse of Ethiopia, who came third in 2:14:03.
Inaugural Beirut International Marathon won by Rugut
Kenya's Paul Rugut won the first Beirut International Marathon on Sunday in 2 hours, 17 minutes, 4 seconds.
Rugut broke his previous best set in Stockholm in 1998, and won US$12,000 in prize money.
Organizers stated that 6100 runners registered of which 4241 actually ran and 4188 finished. The field included representation from 49 countries and an elite field of 36, including AIMS General Secretary Hugh Jones who ran with the race number '1' and finished first in the Men's Masters category.
Pushkina repeats victory in Columbus Marathon (Ohio, USA)
Lyudmila Pushkina of Ukraine won her second consecutive Columbus Marathon on Sunday, breaking the record she set last year by eight seconds.
Pushkina finished the race in 2 hours, 28 minutes, 15 seconds, nearly 16 minutes ahead of second-place finisher Heather Tanner of the United States.
Ronald Mogaka of Kenya won the men's division in 2:14:10. American Jim Jurcevich was second for the second consecutive year, finishing in 2:15:13.
