CHENGDU, China, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan runners swept the titles of the first leg of the 2018 National Forest City Marathon Series which kicked off on Sunday in "Shunan Bamboo Sea" at Yibin, a county in China's Sichuan Province.

Edwin Kipkosgei Kprop took the men's title in two hours 28 minutes and 25 seconds. Kangogo Loice Jebet won the women's crown in three hours four minutes and 43 seconds.

Some 5,000 runners from more than 10 countries and regions participated in the event which started at 8:00 Sunday morning, running through the famous greenland of Shunan Bamboo Sea in the Southwestern province of China.

24-year-old American Allie took part in the half marathon with her friends, saying "it is so impressive to run through the beautiful bamboo forest, but also means more challenging with the climbing mountain."

In the women's full marathon race, China's Zhou Dongmei and Ran Qian finished second and third in 3:33:44 and 3:42:41 respectively.