Ethiopia and China took the men's and women's gold medals respectively at the 2012 Taiyuan International Marathon in north Shanxi province's capital on Sunday.

Tolcha Berhanu Shiferaw pulled away early from a leading pack of three Kenyans after half way mark and ran all the way alone to finish home after two hours, eight minutes and 51 seconds, breaking the record of 2:10:08 of the Taiyuan International Marathon.

Kapchanga and Kiwuwot from Kenya completed the 42.915-kilometer-race in 2:11:52 and 2:12:22 respectively.

"It's great to win the medal," said Berhanu, "It will give me confidence in winning the next races."

Jiang Xiaoli from Shandong province of China beat Kenyan Nyetipei to capture the women's title with her best result of 2:34:50.

"I feel honored to win the medal, and I want to say thanks to my coach and all those cheers and encouragement from the local audiences," said Jiang.

"The last 10 kilometers was much more tougher than I had imagined," Jiang added, "but the vigorous cheers have encouraged me."

Nyetipei and Tekulu from Ethiopia placed the second and third respectively in the women's category with results of 2:35:19 and 2:36:15.

First held in 2010, the annul race in Taiyuan has developed into a gala with over 15,000 participants from home and abroad. Among them, the youngest is 13 years old, and the oldest is 82 years old.