The 2015 C&D Xiamen International Marathon kicked off at 8:00AM on January 3, 2015. Moses Mosop from Kenya picked up speed during the last five kilometers to clock in at 2 hours, 6 minutes and 19 seconds and win the men’s title, beating the previous male marathon record in China, also set in Xiamen, by 1 minute and 13 seconds. The runner-up and the second runner-up were Ethiopia’s Tilahun Regassa and Abrha Milaw, who clocked in at 2 hours, 6 minutes and 54 seconds and 2 hours, 8 minutes and 9 seconds, respectively. As for the female runners, 25-year-old Mare Dibaba Hurssa from Ethiopia again claimed the championship by clocking in at 2 hours, 19 minutes and 52 seconds, 1 minute and 40 seconds better than the female marathon record she set last year. Meseret Legesse from Ethiopia finished second at 2 hours, 27 minutes and 38 seconds, followed by Mirriam Wangari from Kenya at 2 hours, 27 minutes and 53 seconds. The male champion collected $US80,000 while the female champion took home US$60,000.
The Xiamen International Marathon, in its 13th consecutive year since hosting the first race in 2003, saw 43,064 runners from 53 countries and regions registering, of which, 23,675 ran the full marathon, while the remaining 19,389 ran the half marathon.On January 2, the hosting team held the Marathon family “China national runners meeting”. The free form discussion style of the event gave runners the opportunity to share their comments and suggestions as they took questions from the audience. The event provided a platform where representatives from 38 running groups from across the country were able to communicate to the audience the health benefits as well as the sense of joy that they experienced as a result of running. Marathon expert Linda Garcia Luis Miguel, head coach of the Spanish squad, Chen Penbin, gold medal winner of the 100 kilometers nonstop ultra-marathon in Antarctica and the first runner to compete in ultra-marathons on all seven continents as well as Zhang Sijie, head of the marathon family for Xiamen International Marathon hosting team attended the event where they shared their marathon sports knowledge and the story of their spiritual journey that led them to their participation in the marathon.
