A total of 33,000 runners participate in the 2019 Beverly Wuxi Marathon at the Wuxi New Sports Center on March 24. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2019 Beverly Wuxi Marathon began on March 24 beneath a blazing sun and a shower of pink flower petals, as roaring crowds cheered runners on. The event, now in its sixth year, was an unqualified success, with many records being broken.

The 2019 Beverly Wuxi Marathon begins amidst a shower of pink flower petals as rouring crowds cheered runners on. [Photo by Mao Weijun/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Seven hundred and forty runners out of the 20,000 full marathon participants finished within three hours, beating the previous national record of 720 held by the 2018 Shanghai Marathon.

Negawo Asnake Dubre and Tsehay Gebre Getiso from Ethiopia took the title for the men's and women's full marathon with record-breaking times of 02:10:21 and 02:28:06. Jia'e Renjia from Qinghai province claimed the championship for the men's half marathon with a personal best of 01:05:05.

Negawo Asnake Dubre from Ethiopia wins the men's full marathon with a record-breaking time of 02:10:21 at the 2019 Beverly Wuxi Marathon. [Photo by Mao Weijun/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"This is actually probably the nicest half marathon route I've ever been on", said Hannah Coleman from Ireland, who participated in her first marathon in China after being attracted by its beautiful routes. "I had a wonderful time in Wuxi! The lake and cherry blossoms were so beautiful and the people were so friendly", she added.

Hannah Coleman (2nd from the right) takes a group photo with new friends at Jiangnan University on March 24. [Photo by Pan Qi/chinadaily.com.cn]