The Beijing Half Marathon, also known as the Beijing International Running Festival, kicked off from Tian'anmen Square on Sunday.

A total of 20,000 marathoners from across the world participated in the men's and women's half marathons. More than 50,000 people from 27 countries and regions, including China, France and Brazil signed up since the registration began on March 15.

Kenya's Brian Kwemoi Kirui registered a new men's course record of 59:37, while China's Liu Min finished first in 1:11:07 in the women's race.

China's Yang Kegu followed Kirui to finish second in 1:03:41, which also surpassed the previous record set by Chinese runner Peng Jianhua in 2021, who was third this time.

The competition can be traced back to 1956 and was the largest in China back then.