Quality key as China's marathon boom reaches crossroads

Last Sunday, over 35,000 runners participated in the Xiamen Marathon, World Athletics' first "gold label" road race of the year.

First staged in 2003, the race has grown into a major international event, mirroring the rise in popularity of long-distance running in China over the past ten years. However, whether the nation's marathon boom will continue apace into the new decade is unclear.

According to the China Athletics Association (CAA), the country hosted 40 times as many marathons in 2018 than in 2014.

"Preliminary data shows that 1,900 running races were held in 2019. These events attracted a total of 7.2 million participants," said CAA deputy secretary-general Shui Tao.

Shui added that the CAA had forecast there would be 1,900 races and 10 million participants in 2020, generating a revenue of 120 billion yuan (about $17.2 billion) from related industries. He added that some targets had already been reached in 2019.

Wang Li, director of sports at China Foreign Affairs University, said that the increase in popularity of marathons is directly related to rising living standards.

"As Chinese become richer and richer, they are placing greater importance on their health. Running is a popular exercise activity, both for its social element and its low barrier to participation," Wang said.

Chen Yuanding, a member of the CAA's information committee, noted that China's GDP per capita surpassed $5,000 in 2011, paving the way for endurance running's rapid growth.

Indeed, such is the demand for places in Chinese marathons that entries are often decided by lottery. For this year's Xiamen Marathon, for example, only 28.8 percent of applicants were granted a place on the starting line.

"There is still more scope for China's marathon industry to grow," Wang said. "The number of marathons in China is still not at the level of the US or Japan, although it has increased a lot in recent years."

Platinum push

While the Xiamen race has been awarded "gold label" status by World Athletics, no Chinese marathon features on the governing body's more prestigious "platinum label" list.

"We might have done a better job in terms of organization and infrastructure," Shui conceded, "however, there are many criteria for platinum-label races, such as the number of top runners, runner services and publicity."

Shui added that to obtain platinum status Chinese marathons will have to improve their international reach.

"Twenty years ago, we went to the New York City Marathon to learn from their experience," he recalled. "Among the 30,000 participants, 10,000 were New York citizens, 10,000 were participants from other states and the rest were foreigners.

"But for the Beijing Marathon, which also had 30,000 participants, there were only 500 foreign runners."

Some experts contend that China's demand for professionals in managing and operating marathons exceeds the supply.

Shui said that the CAA has established a marathon college at Shanghai University, which has produced over 2,000 professionals skilled in marathon organization and medical services.

Top tech

China's marathons, though, are distinguishing themselves from their global rivals with their technical innovations.

"The CAA is launching a pilot project with a heart-rate monitoring system for road races. With a data platform to check runners' physical condition, running will be safer," said Shui.

"China is leading the way in introducing new technologies to the marathon," added Chen. "There are convenient apps for races, while facial-recognition technology and extensive video monitoring are widely used, which helps identify and remove cheaters."

Wang is certain that the future looks bright for marathon running in China, but predicts the current long-distance running craze will slow down.

"In the new decade, China's marathons will move from a high-speed boom towards a trajectory of stable and quality development," said Wang.