The women's half marathon has long been a duel between Zhu Qing and Yang Xinyun.

After 19 km Zhu Qing surged again, completely dropping Yang Xinyun behind her. An average pace of 3:34 per kilometer was very likely to break the course record set by Ding Changqin in 2025.

In the end Zhu Qing and Yang Xinyun broke the women's half-marathon course record with times of 1:15:22 and 1:15:50 respectively.

This race also fully showcased Zhu Qing's absolute speed in the mid-altitude environment; the title of "People's top female" is well deserved.

In the men's half, 22-year-old Li Xinyu ran the opening 5 km in about 15:30 at high speed, but he faded somewhat up to 15 km, covering the 5–15 km segment in just over 32 minutes.

Although that pace was very fast, to challenge the men's half-marathon course record he would need to push harder in the final 6 km.

Li Xinyu's late fade allowed his early-group teammateLi Jinhao to catch up. The 23-year-old Li Jinhao overtook and kept accelerating over the final 2 km, finishing in 1:07:38. Fang Bo finished seventh.

The men's full marathon field was still highly competitive: Hong Yue (PB 2:08) who has run Liupanshui four times; Guan Yousheng and Yang Chunlong, who just finished the Chongli 168 trail race; Liupanshui's top local runner Guo Zhongrui; veteran Cen Wanjiang; and others.

But considering the recent loads for Guan Yousheng and Yang Chunlong, they were unlikely to chase a fast time and were probably treating the race as a training run.

After the start, Guo Zhongrui and mass runner Liu Jun pushed the lead group's pace hard; after 7 km only Hong Yue from the elites could keep up, while Cen Wanjiang fell slightly back; Guan Yousheng conservatively stayed in the second group.

At the 11 km turnaround, the lead group led by Hong Yue and Guo Zhongrui had dropped Guan Yousheng by nearly 300 m. The second group was reduced to just the "workhorse".

After 24 km, Guo Zhongrui built an advantage on an uphill section, leading solo and opening a gap of nearly 100 m on Cen Wanjiang and Hong Yue behind him.

But veteran Cen Wanjiang is best at late-race chases and is unfazed by climbs and high altitude. Could he and the stronger Hong Yue bring a new variable in the later stages?

At 37 km Wang Jie climbed from eighth to second, even overtaking Hong Yue and Cen Wanjiang — the race's final phase turned tense again. At 40 km he had closed the gap to Guo Zhongrui to within 80 m; we all wondered if Wang Jie could pull off such a comeback.

Unfortunately, Guo Zhongrui noticed Wang Jie's closing pace, gritted his teeth and accelerated to stabilize the lead, ultimately winning comfortably as the "home favorite".

Ultimately Guo Zhongrui won the men's full marathon in 2:22:04; Wang Jie finished a remarkable 2:22:42 to take second; Hong Yue claimed third. Congratulations to the three.

In the women's full marathon, Huang Fei led from the start while Li Renxiang stayed close within a hundred meters.

Because of Liupanshui's mid-altitude characteristics, Huang Fei did not blindly push early or in the first half, instead choosing to run steadily behind the mass of elite male runners.

At 12 km Li Renxiang caught up with Huang Fei. But with the current pace of around 3:47/km, challenging the course record looked difficult.

At 23 km Huang Fei, perhaps struggling with the high-altitude environment, fell out of the lead group and was pulled a minute behind Li Renxiang. Could she adjust and catch up later?

Meanwhile local runners Lu Yinxi and Xiao Yan gradually caught up and passed the fading but persevering Huang Fei.

In the final 8 km, Li Renxiang, accompanied by a pack of mass runners, looked increasingly comfortable, with the women's second group long gone. Li Renxiang held her advantage and won in 2:48:00.

Following Li Renxiang, Lu Yinxi 2:50:40 and Xiao Yan 2:52:05 crossed the line two minutes apart to take second and third in the women's full marathon.

Huang Fei did not abandon the race and finished fourth.