New women's record set for city half marathon

Ethiopian runner Ftaw Zeray has set a new women's record for the Shanghai Half Marathon, completing the 21-kilometer distance in one hour six minutes and 36 seconds on Sunday morning.

The annual event saw a total of 15,000 runners set off from Pudong's Oriental Pearl TV Tower.

Zeray broke the previous women's record of 1:09:57 created last year by Magdalena Crispin Shauri from Tanzania. She was followed by Veronicah Njeri Maina (1:10:57) from Kenya and China's Xu Shuangshuang (1:11:07).

The top three male finishers are all from Kenya: Roncer Kipkorirand Konga was the first to cross the finish line at the Oriental Sports Center, clocking 1:01:07. He was followed by compatriots Edmond Kipngetich (1:01:11) and Isaac Kipkemboi (1:01:15.)

China's Wang Congzheng was the first domestic male runner to reach the finish line, clocking 1:03:21. According to the organizers, 99.27 percent of the runners managed to complete their race.

More than 2,200 student volunteers from eight universities and colleges in Shanghai provided services for this year's event, as well as 300 medical staff.

An enthusiastic public cheered the runners along the way, including performers from the Shanghai Light Music Orchestra and piano teachers from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

CBA team Shanghai Shark's cheerleaders welcomed runners at the finish line.

Every race finisher received a hexagonal medal, the shape of which was inspired by "Shen," the abbreviation of Shanghai.