This is the ninth year the race has been held, and is traditionally the first marathon run each calendar year. 50-thousand people entered the race last year, and this time that number approached 70,000.

Runners needed to be up early Saturday, with the starting pistol fired at 8am. The racers began their journey from the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Centre.

Competitors could enter the full or half marathon, along with a 10-K and 5-K run for those who were unwilling or unable to run longer distances.

This year, Kenyan Peter Kamais won the men's race setting a personal best of 2 hours, seven minutes and 37 seconds. That time also broke the Xiamen Marathon course record.

Kamais pockets 40-thousand US dollars for the victory, and also gets a 25-thousand dollar bonus for setting a new course record. The women's title was claimed by Ethiopian, Ashu Kasim, who finished in 2:23:09. China's Jin Lingling finished in 6th.