Thriving marathon industry in China brings health and new opportunities

The 2023 Xi'an Marathon. (Photo courtesy of the organizing committee of the Xi'an Marathon)

Over the past 10 years, China's marathon events have achieved leapfrog development and innovation, integrating deeply with the culture, tourism, health, leisure, technology and other industries, while the marathon industry itself has shown more vitality, global marathon specialists noted at a sports seminar on January 18.

The Road Race Webinar Discussion, organized by World Athletics in collaboration with the Mass Participation World, drew marathon events operators, experts and enthusiasts from all over the world, who asserted that the road running industry is gaining popularity worldwide.

"Sports, eco and heritage tourism collectively represented a 57 percent share of all travel packages in 2023, while running is becoming more and more trendy around the world,” said Elisabet Olival, a sport tourism expert from Kamel Turismo, Brazil.

China’s large population and large number of marathon fans have led to explosive expansion in the sports event calendar and overall economic growth. Data shows that China held a total of 580 road running events in 2023, of which 308 were officially certified by the China Athletics Association.

Weihong Tang, chairperson of People's Daily Online's Supervisory Board and Chinese Marathon Figure of the Year 2017, described road running in China as an industry of "quantity" and "speed."

"In 2023, sign-ups and turnout for China's top marathon events generally surpassed capacity, setting new records. For instance, the 2023 Guangzhou Marathon, designed for 30,000 runners, saw over 140,000 registrations,” said Tang. The Shanghai Marathon saw even more, with over 170,000 people signing up. As a result, these big races had to resort to lotteries, which made securing a spot quite tough.

As for “speed”, Tang noted that 2023 was a year of remarkable breakthroughs in China's marathon scene. On December 3, at the Fukuoka Marathon, Yang Shaohui set a new Chinese national record of 2 hours, 7 minutes and 9 seconds, becoming the first Chinese runner to finish in 2 hours and 7 minutes twice. With these achievements, China's marathon scene has now entered the "207 era."

At the same time, the speed of everyday runners is also improving. In the 2023 Beijing Marathon, an impressive 2,402 runners finished in under 3 hours, setting a new record in China for the most runners to do so in a single marathon. This shows that completing a marathon in under 3 hours has become a big target for both organizing and measuring the success of marathons for the general public in China.

Weihong Tang (7th from right), chairperson of People's Daily Online's Supervisory Board, at the 2022 Beijing Marathon. (Photo provided to People’s Daily Online)

"Additionally, when I talk about speed, I think it's also worth mentioning the rapid development of China's high-speed rail network. By the end of 2023, China's railways covered 159,000 kilometers, of which 45,000 kilometers were high-speed rail,” said Tang.

"I live and work in Beijing. It takes me four hours to reach Shanghai and a bit more than four hours to get to Xi'an by high-speed train, which run at up to 350 kilometers per hour. I travel to various parts of the country for these races. I usually leave early Saturday morning, get to the race location by plane or high-speed rail, and then head back to Beijing on Sunday, right after the race,” Tang added. “The convenience and accessibility of transportation mean that office workers like me can easily fit both work and running competitions into our schedules.” Last year, Tang ran in four full marathons and more than 10 half marathons.

Tang expressed her expectations for the growing business and offered suggestions to better promote marathons in China based on her experience as a marathon enthusiast who has participated in numerous events both domestically and internationally.

"In 2023, I not only participated in marathons in big cities like Xi'an and Tianjin but also in several small and medium-sized cities, including district and county-level events such as the Beijing Tongzhou Marathon and the marathon in Dachang county, Hebei Province. Those experiences were great. It's clear that more and more people in China are getting into running, and the quality of races across the country is getting better,” said Tang.

According to the High-quality Development Report of Road Race in China, a thorough study conducted by the People’s Daily Online Institute, led by Tang, the thriving marathon industry in China also indicates that the rapid growth of Chinese road running events is inextricably linked to the development of China's economy and society.

Weihong Tang, chairperson of People's Daily Online's Supervisory Board, launches the High-quality Development Report of Road Race in China at the 2024 Road Races Sustainable Development Forum in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, Jan. 5, 2024. (Photo provided to People’s Daily Online)

For instance, during the 2023 Chongqing Marathon, surrounding retail consumption reached 690 million yuan, boosting tourism consumption to 300 million yuan. The event also drives the development and upgrading of sports-related industries, including sports training, sporting goods manufacturing, smart wearable manufacturing and other industries, giving rise to emerging industries such as sports tourism.

The report also forecast that by 2025, the number of domestic road running and related sports events is expected to increase to 2,500, and the number of participants in mass marathons to 10 million. The marathon event economy will reach an event economic scale of 50 billion yuan in 2025. In the future, the scale of the marathon derivative economy will exceed 400 billion yuan.

China's strong cultural heritage really shines through in our marathons, especially in the selection of race routes and the unique designs of the medals. Marathons, more so than sports like basketball or football, really capture the spirit of the cities they pass through. The 42.195 kilometers of a marathon can fully showcase a city's unique style and cultural history. In this respect, China, with its vast territory, long history, and diverse culture, has a lot to offer.

"A common saying among Chinese runners is, ‘Run a marathon and fall in love with a city.’ For runners from other countries, visiting China for a marathon is a great idea,” said Tang.

"We hope to further enhance our collaboration with all parties involved, using marathons and sports as a bridge to foster greater exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries,” she added.

Click for the full report of High-quality Development Report of Road Race in China