ISTANBUL, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Kenya female runner Rebecca Kangogo Cheshire win the title of the 42.195km Istanbul Marathon with a time of 2:29:05 here on Sunday.
Two Turkish female runners Elvan Abeylegesse and Sultan Haydar finished the race in the second and the third places with 2:29:30 and 2:29:40 respectively.
Around 20,000 athletes were competing in one of the three races of the event, formerly known as the Eurasia Marathon, this year sponsored by Vodafone.
The marathon, which offers a total prize of one million US dollars, boasts the only course in the world involving two continents, Asia and Europe, in one race.
The main race of the event is the 42km marathon which set for at 09.00 EET. The race started 300 meters behind the Bosphorus Bridge before finalizing at an avenue in historical Sultanahmet district.
The 15-km and 10-km races also started at 09.00 EET.
A public walk through Bosphorus was also held with participation of about 100,000 people, covering a course starting from the Altunizade district on the Asian side before procession through the Bosphorus Bridge and ending at Dolmabahce on the European side.