Ethiopia won the women's race at the Beijing International Relay Marathon in Beijing on Sunday while Kenya won the men's event.

Ethiopia completed the 42.195-kilometer course in two hours 18 minutes eight seconds, ahead of defending champions China.

China, led by world 10,000m bronze medalist Sun Yingjie and Olympic 10,000m champion Xing Huina, finished in 2:19:36 while Japan ranked third in 2:24:32.

The men's title was won by the Kenyans, who clocked 2:04:17 for the honor.  Spain and Russia split the sivler and bronze medals, in 2:04:47 and 2:05:57 respectively.

According to the organizers, over 3,000 international and local runners took part in the six groups. It is the biggest ever in the event's 20-year history.

The winners of the international men's and women's races were awarded with US$20,000 each.

The race started and finished from the giant Tiananmen Square in downtown area. 

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2005)