On Sunday, the Belgian capital was taken over by runners during the Brussels Airport Marathon & Half Marathon. Kenyan Simon Kipkosgei and Britain's Christa Cain finished first.
The 18th edition of one of the largest running events in the capital saw runners follow a revamped course including even more of the city's major landmarks, with the track starting off at Place De Brouckère in the city centre.
The winners of the 46 km run were Kenyan top runner Simon Kipkosgei, who has a personal best time of 2:07:07 in the marathon, among the men and Britain's Christa Cain among the female runners. They were the first runners in their categories out of about 1,700 participants to cross the finish line at the King Baudouin Stadium.
Kenyan Simon Kipkosgei. Credit: Belga/ Jill Delsaux
Kipkosgei finished the challenging hilly course in 2h15:31. The runner-up, Kenya's Moses Mwarur, finished in 2h18:24. The first Belgian, François Clais finished third in 2h39:35.
Among the women, Cain clocked 2h50:50. She made it ahead of Poland's Joanna Drewnicka, who finished in 3h16:42. The first female Belgian to finish the course was Annelore Salens who clocked in 3h19:05 after the race began.
Polish Joanna Drewnicka-Ogrodnik, British Christa Cain and Belgian Annelore Salens. Credit: Belga/ Jill Delsaux
In the half marathon (21km), Lukas Outtier from West Flanders was the first to finish, doing so in 1h11:12. Among the women, Brussels' Mathilde Deswaef won in 1h20:56.
The entire course across the region was completely shut off to traffic from 07:30 in the morning, but roads gradually reopened after the last runners passed. By the afternoon, all roads were once again cleared, while the tram and bus routes that were disrupted have returned to their usual service.
