BUDAPEST, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian runners Levente Szemerei and Eszter Csillag won the men's and women's events at the Budapest Marathon here on Sunday.

Szemerei, 22, won with a time of two hours, 21 minutes and 44 seconds, whereas the fastest female athlete was Csillag, 37, who crossed the line in 2:59:16.

A total of 18,000 runners took part in the two-day 37th Budapest Marathon, a bit less than two-thirds of the usual 30,000 participants pre-pandemic, but significantly more than in the past two years.

Participants from 89 countries and regions ran the scenic route along both banks of the Danube River, enjoying a mild early autumn day with blue skies and gently falling leaves.

Besides serious training, runners kept going thanks to the organizers' refreshing stands, filled up with 13,000 bananas, 80,000 liters of water, 20,000 pieces of chocolate and 280kg of dextrose tablets. Enditem