Kenyan runner Mathew Kipkoech Kisorio crosses the finish line first in the Beijing Marathon on Sunday. Photo: VCG

Kenyans dominated in the CFLD Beijing Marathon on Sunday, making a clean sweep of the podium, while a total of 30,000 runners turned up in drizzling rain in the Chinese capital.

Mathew Kipkoech Kisorio led his compatriots to finish top in the race in 2:07:06, downing the course record by 10 seconds created by Tadese Tola in 2013. Solomon Kirwa Yego and Emmanuel Rutto Naibei clocked in 2:09:45 and 2:10:15 to round up the podium.

"I'm happy to win and break the course record," Kisorio told reporters ­after the race. 

"I hope I will come here again and achieve better results."

Kisorio's debut win at the Beijing Marathon saw him bag $60,000 prize money in total, including a course-­record prize worth $20,000.

Chinese runner Yang Shaohui finished the race in 2:13:14, ranking eighth overall and the top result from a Chinese athlete. 

Yang, who was running along with the African elite runners at the beginning, failed to keep his pace in the later section.

"My stamina was in trouble at the later stage," said Yang, who ran a back-to-back marathon after finishing fifth in Chengdu the previous week, where he was 10 seconds short of qualifying for the Olympic marathon race of 2:11:30.

In the women's competition, Sutume Asefa Kebede of Ethiopia was the top finisher, winning the race in 2:23:31, followed by China's Li Zhixuan and Kebede's compatriot Mulu Seboka Seyfu.

"It is my second Beijing Marathon and I am happy to finish second, though my form was not at the peak," Li told reporters after the race. 

"I will continue to push myself for better results." 

Li's result of 2:29:06 means she also qualifies for the Tokyo Olympic Games along with teammate Li Dan, who finished fourth with 2:29:20 in the women's competition.

The Beijing Marathon is considered the flagship marathon race in China, receiving more than 165,000 applications for the race this year. Only 30,000 were accepted to compete. 

Recent years have witnessed a surge of marathon events across China, with only 22 registered marathons held in 2011, compared to 1,581 in 2018, according to China's marathon governing body the Chinese Athletics Association.