2007 ING Taipei International Marathon
Monday, December 17, 2007 11:54The 2007 ING Taipei International Marathon was held in the streets of Taipei yesterday, December 16th. A record 110 000 runners took part in the various races, with 22 000 running in the full marathon. Kenya’s Hillary Bett won the international mens division in a time of 2:17:01, finishing ahead of Tanzania’s Disdery Hombo (2:17:35) and fellow Kenyan Elijah Chemwolo (2:18:03). Zimbabwe’s Tabitha Tsatsa took the womens prize with a time of 2:33:01, with Kenya’s Anne Chelagat at 2:38:19 and Merima Benboba, also from Zimbabwe, at 2:49:14.
In the domestic competition, Wu Wen-chien won the mens in a time of 2:32:13 and Hsu Yu-fang the womens, posting a time of 2:50:45.
Bett, a 27 year old farmer competing in his third professional marathon, received NT$666 666 (US$20 000). He said afterwards, ” I am very happy because I just turned pro in April and this is my third marathon since then. I will use part of the money for training and part of it to buy land to plant tea.”
Tsatsa also won NT$666 666 as winner of the womens section, plus received an additional NT$1million (US$30 000) for breaking the Taiwan record by almost 7 minutes. She said, “I will rest for a while and then will start preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.”
Wu Wen-chien and Hsu Yu-fang both received NT$100 000 for being the first Taiwanese runners to finish.
The marathon attracted runners from 40 different countries, including a group of sumo wrestlers from Japan. As well as the 42.195km marathon, there was a 21km half marathon, 9km road run, 3km fun run and a 1km children’s run.
Organizers estimated the event would generate up to NT$200 million worth of economic benefits for Taiwan in transportation, food, accommodation, and other services. A team of 2000 volunteers was on hand to assist in the smooth running of the event, as well as 20 doctors and 50 nurses.
