The 2018 China Mountain Marathon Series - Conghua Mountain Marathon International Competition was held in Conghua district, Guangzhou on Oct 21. 

Nearly 3,000 professional outdoor athletes and runners participated in the competition. The event featured three races: the 42-km individual, the 21-km individual and the 11-km mass fitness event.

Runners from overseas pose at the start line of the Conghua Mountain Marathon International Competition on Oct 21. [Photo/Nanfang Plus]

It is the second time that Conghua has hosted the international event, whose participants this year included professional runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Russia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Ireland, Belarus and Croatia. Top Chinese runners such as Luo Wei and Gao Yongning also took part.

The courses for this year's events not only provided visitors with scenic views, but attempted to make the events more challenging for the elite runners. The competition routes included scenic spots, green walking paths and mountains roads, connecting a range of provincial-level hot spring scenic spots, Tianhu Scenic Area, a waterfall and other sites, offering runners a unique experience.

Runners head through the mountain tracks. [Photo/Nanfang Plus]

After 3 hours 21 minutes 6 seconds, Teshome Lemma Merga from Ethiopia won first place in the men's championship 42-km individual event and Zhang Kaiqin, of Yunnan province, was crowned the 42-km individual women's champion after completing the race in 4 hours, 9 minutes 2 seconds. The men's and women's champions in the 21km individual races were Kenyan runner Bett Stanley Kipketer (1 hour 21 minutes 14 seconds) and Ethiopian Mude Zeytuna Arba (1 hour 35 minutes 58 seconds).

A runner gives a thumbs-up while running. [Photo/Nanfang Plus]