Local favourite Ding Changqin and Kenya’s Michael Kiprop Tiony will be looking to defend their titles at the 2016 Chongqing International Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, on Sunday (20).

The relatively novel aspects of this year’s IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen – only the second time in the event’s history that it is being held in the spring, and only the second time that the championship race also incorporates a mass participation event following the very first version on Tyneside in 1992 – are likely to be counterbalanced in the women’s race by a return to business as usual on Saturday.

After a 27-year wait, the 33rd Beijing International Marathon finally produced a course record as Ethiopia’s Tadese Tola won the IAAF Gold Label Road Race in 2:07:16 on Sunday (20), while Zhang Yingying made a strong return to win the women’s race.