The Suzhou 2023 Marathon kicks off

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The Suzhou 2023 Marathon, the first city marathon of Suzhou, kicked off at 7:30 am on Mar. 26. About 25,000 runners took part in the race.

The event, officially certified by the Chinese Athletic Association, was sponsored by the Suzhou Municipal Government and organized by the Suzhou Sports Bureau.

Xu Mengtao, China's first Grand Slam winner in snow events and winner of the freestyle skiing women's aerials gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, was invited to lead the race, bringing the spirit of the Olympics to the city.

The first Suzhou Marathon set up three events: a full marathon (42.195 km), a half marathon (21.0975 km) and a family run (4.2 km), attended by 10,000, 10,000 and 5,000 runners respectively. It featured a running route starting from the intersection of Guobin Road and Jinji Lake Avenue and ending at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center for the full marathon and the half marathon and at the square east of Gate of the Orient for the family run.

The running route passed a number of landmarks in Suzhou Industrial Park, Gusu District, and Suzhou New District, such as the Jinji Lake, Gate of the Orient, Suzhou Center, the Panmen Scenic Area, the Grand Canal, the Hanshan Temple, the Pingjiang Road Historical Block, and Ganjiang Road, offering the runners a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the city's picturesque spring scenery.

After fierce competition, Guan Yousheng and Yang Hua, both from Guizhou Province, won the men's and women's full marathon in 2:15:41 and 2:38:18, respectively. Qi Zhenfei won the men's half marathon in 1:06:38 while Diriba Chaltu Dida from Ethiopia triumphed in the women's race in 1:16:07.

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