FINE weather helped to assure a successful 2017 Shanghai International Half Marathon yesterday. The event attracted 15,000 runners.

It began at Pudong’s Oriental Pearl TV Tower at 7am, when the temperature was a comfortable 13 degrees Celsius. Two hours later, it was 20 degrees.

Three water spray spots in the latter part of the 21-kilometer route helped runners to cool down and complete the race.

Tanzania’s Emanuel Giniki Gisamoda was the first male runner to cross the finish line at Pudong’s Oriental Sports Center, clocking 1 hour, 1 minute and 36 seconds. He was followed by Ethiopian Derara Desalegn Hurisa (1:01:45) .

The women’s podium was occupied by three Ethiopian runners. Guteni Shone Imana slightly edged her compatriots to take the crown clocking 1 hour 10 minutes and 45 seconds.

The top 400 male and top 200 female runners are awarded quotas for the 2017 Shanghai International Marathon on November 12.

According to the official medical partner Shanghai East Hospital, 362 runners sought medical help. No serious injuries were reported.

“I want to give a thumbs-up to this year’s after-race massage service, as well as the recovery facilities,” said runner Zhou Ying. “If they could solve the queuing problem some runners had to face when picking up snacks after crossing the finish line, it would be perfect.”