Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Roundtable.
A marathon is more than just a long run.
It's a powerful force driving local economies, fueling sports culture, and bringing people together.
Let's find out how the marathon is making an impact beyond the finish line.
Coming to you live from Beijing.
This is Roundtable.
I'm He Yang. For today's program, I'm joined by Steve Hatherly and Yu Shen in the studio.
First on today's show!
Think marathons are just about running?
Think again! In China, for almost a decade, marathons have evolved into a massive sports, lifestyle, and local economic event, attracting millions of participants and tourists alike.
from breathtaking routes that highlights silly city culture to Smart Tech races featuring Humanoid robots this spring marathon season is a transformative Experience with local economies benefiting sports culture growing and people connecting like never before We'll dive into why these races are more than just sports.
They are shaping local economies So, a marathon covers 42 .195 kilometers, or 26 .2 miles, and that's very long.
It is. So, how big are marathons in China?
Oh, they are big. Apparently, there's this estimation from SoHoo News saying that in 2025, we'll see nearly 200 marathons and related road races held throughout the year, including 70 World Athletics certified events.
And I just learn about this as well, apparently every year, March and April in Spring, as well as the October and November seasons in Fall, are the prime marathon seasons here in China.
And as we just passed March, so March is the peak season for races with multiple marathons taking place simultaneously.
And in the last two days of March, over 40 marathons have already been held all over the country.
In 2 days?! In 2 days!
40 races being held.
And sometimes, the very major events, they are held on the same day in different cities as well, such as the Nanjing half -marathons participated by over 25 ,000 people, and also the Jingzhou Marathon. These two are two of the major ones, and they both occurred on March 16.
And some economically prosperous areas such as in the lower reaches of Yangtze River in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai regions in eastern China, they host the highest concentration of races and making that area the most, the area that has the most marathon events all over the country.
Yeah, so spring and fall, those are the big seasons for marathon races here in China.
Makes sense, right, because those are the seasons where the weather is most conducive to long distance running.
I wouldn't want to run a marathon in Beijing in the middle of August, that's for sure.
Might be a little warm and potentially dangerous.
But yeah, it does it does make a lot of sense I didn't know that there were that many marathons held though, particularly held at the same time in different cities around the country That's really cool to know.
And like you mentioned just now Huiyang, there seems to be taking well Beijing at least seems to be taking marathon races to a new level by adding not only human runners This is amazing, yeah.
But also inviting humanoid robots on the tracks as well because, well, this is according to China Daily that the world's first marathon featuring both human and humanoid robot runners will take place on April 13th here in Beijing.
And this event is organized by the Beijing Economic Technological Development Area and is planning to have humanoid robots, apparently, participating in a half marathon alongside approximately 12 ,000 human runners and I actually look into this I was wondering how can the two groups run so harmoniously together and and here's how because they are actually well these robots they're from dozens of companies and they will race in a separate lane for safety reasons.
That's probably a good idea.
Yeah, just prevent any pushings and damaging of these very high -tech products.
What a world we're living in now, huh?
Marathons now include robots.
And the robots, obviously not in direct competition, I guess, with the humans.
But still, the fact that they're running together is it's kind of mind -blowing, in my opinion.
Well, they don't seem to be picking up a lot of the supplies from the supply stands, I imagine.
They're in very good shape.
That's for humans. And that's just one extra proof of just how marathons are popular here in China, especially in recent years.
Because if we look at the figures, in 2024, there were 749 marathons and related road races being held throughout that year, which is already an increase of approximately 50 races, comparing to that of 2023, where 699 of such races were held.
And that's from the 2024 China Road Running Report done by Chinese Athletics Association, the CAA.
And I mean, 600, 700 races being held in a year.
That's a lot. And for previous years, say over a decade ago, I didn't realize that marathon is such a big deal in China.
But apparently, now it is.
Even though I personally have never been in one before, but it certainly draws a lot of people's attention from all over China and maybe outside of China too, I think.
Because for that 2023 data, there are overall 699 road races nationwide that include 245 marathon races, 377 half marathon races and 308 CAA certified races.
That includes 175 marathons and 127 half marathons.
just, just look at the numbers.
I would imagine it's hard for, I don't know, maybe one place to hold such a big number of races.
Before, there seems to be just like dozens, maybe around 100 per year, but now it's doubling and doubling and doubling in recent years.
Bit of a cultural shift, perhaps, in the sense that more and more people are getting into running as not only a hobby because, that if you jog as a hobby that's something you might do once a week or something like that but training for a marathon taking part in marathons or half marathons or even like a 10k or a 5k is a big deal.
The numbers obviously support the concept that many people are adding this as a part of their regular lives.
Yes and we've seen the numbers these they've been going quite steady these recent years and this is no longer something that oh it's so new people have just taken up a new hobby.
It's more like they're becoming pros.
And a lot of people have this jogging habit integrated into their lifestyle and they sort of, well for those avid runners, they do have this kind of calendar.
And then they will, you will need to register to participate in your formal marathons that we're listing today.
So you got to train, You got to book your spot.
You got to pay the fee, get okayed, and be there.
And training for these big races can sometimes be months if not more than a year or two, right?
Depending on the person and depending on how seriously they're taking it.
This means big business though, and this might not be something that comes to mind immediately, the connection between the economy and the marathon industry.
I found this to be quite interesting.
Studies suggest that when a country's per capita GDP exceeds $5 ,000 to $10 ,000, that's American currency, leisure and sports -related spending increases and mass participation in endurance sports like marathons, for example, they rise.
This is a quote from economists Robert Bowman and Victor Matheson.
infrastructure investments, and mega sports events, comparing the experience of developing an industrialized country.
That's that's the title of the book or the paper that they wrote.
But it makes sense, I suppose, right?
Because when people have more disposable income, then they look for ways to spend that disposable income, right?
And that can come in the form of many different hobbies.
And oftentimes that hobby is marathon running.
can I just add one point it's not just um when you have more money you want to spend it maybe that is the end result but in between it's more like when you have the money hopefully you have a little bit more leisure time as well and you're like I want to better my life and when you're not just focused on the crude making money then you know what else can you do to elevate your maybe spiritual being or your overall happiness level.
Yeah. Yeah. And then maybe some people go for running, others pick up other hobbies.
Sure. I mean, all of those things are connected.
There's patterns that have been observed, observed in other countries that support this as well.
Japan had happened in the 1980s in South Korea, in the 2000s, and then here in China in the 2010s, where marathon participation really increased alongside the economic growth that was happening in the countries.
And apparently the CIA has done some sort of a research and released a report that coincides with what we just mentioned, because here in China, the boom in marathon events coincides with China's rising middle income spectrum.
And that also indicates a shift towards health conscious lifestyles.
That's so popular among Chinese people nowadays.
And large city marathon events in China has already generated just economic benefits.
That's ranging from 600 to 700 million yuan, and that's over 82 to 96 million U .S. dollars.
And for example, the 2023 Shanghai Marathon had a direct economic impact of more than 700 million yuan, that's more than 96 million U .S. dollars.
And that's a total output benefit of 2 billion yuan and the tourism industry poll of 769 million yuan.
So that's all the data from the China outdoor sports industry development report from 2023 to 2024.
That's a lot of money.
A big market. Yeah and it's not just in China.
A friend of a friend last year went to run in the Boston Marathon. The Boston Marathon is one of the bigger, more famous marathons that happen around the globe on an annual basis.
And when he went there, my friends went with him to support him.
And they went to the city a few days before they hung out there, so when they're there, they're obviously going out to restaurants and eating and buying coffees and things like that, spending money in the community.
Surveys showed that the Boston Marathon brings in an influx of out -of -town visitors.
So it's not just locals, right?
The out -of -town visitors come into the city, they celebrate the race, and they participate in a roundabout way.
They're not running in the marathon itself, but it brings in more than just participants themselves, and there's a lot, a lot, a lot of money that gets spent when all of these people come into the city.
Hundreds of thousands of people come to Boston for the marathon itself, some of those people are running obviously but the majority are not and that's a massive impact economically speaking on the city itself.
Yeah and that's a really well -known world -renowned marathon and I suppose the marathons in Beijing, Shanghai and also many of the other cities that we've have mentioned, if not going to mention on today's show, I think that's ultimately what they're all buying for.
That is to become, you know, the world's top like six marathons or whatnot.
Like we can see in China now the poll is still domestic but if one day it becomes more globally seen, I think that's definitely a great thing that local economies would very much enjoy.
So let's zero in on this and, you know taking Boston as a very good example and look at other places in China how has marathon races boosted its economy and visibility well marathon events just just like how Steve mentioned earlier I think it has such a say Olympic effect of just you know attracting all the the scenic spots if not the cultural relic spots in one marathon route and attracting people to just be here, maybe just to see how the races are going on, but also in the meantime, take some time to stay in that city and travel around.
And marathon events here in China, such as the Wuxi marathon, the Wuhan marathon, and the Nanjing, Shenglin half marathon, serve as an important platform for cities to attract tourists, promote consumption, and build their urban brand through such a race that gathers everybody in one place.
One good example would be the 2025 Wuxi marathon that's always stealing the spotlight in the springtime.
From the Xinhua News Agency reports that the 2025 Wuxi marathon – in Chinese, some people just nicknamed that as Xi Ma in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu province – attracted a of 429 ,000 people for registration while the actual number of participants was 35 ,000 and they are from 36 different countries and regions around the world and also a substantial 391 ,000 spectators to attend that one event I think yeah nowadays as marathons getting more and more attention more people are registering it makes the professional runners a concern too because they have this lottery system of you know picking who or which one
that registered to be allowed to run.
So we see a relatively lower high registration rate but lower say what's that called?
Yeah, it's like winning the lottery.
Winning rate for that lottery.
Yeah, of the 391 thousand spectators that you mentioned 55 % came from outside the city and 40 % came from outside the province.
And that's really wonderful news for the city and the province itself because you have the immediate impact of people that's a lot of people right 391 ,000 people coming to the city coming to the province many might be visiting for the first time.
So the immediate impact is spending money on hotels and food and leisure activities, things like that.
Because they're not just coming five minutes before the race starts.
They're coming maybe a couple of days in advance.
But then there's the opportunity for the future impact, economically speaking.
Because they come there, they see what it's like, they enjoy it, and there's the opportunity to return.
That's a really important part of it, which often gets neglected, Steve.
that is you know, you want people to come and be happy and return but I mean, this might be a slight criticism from some people who've been to these marathons or maybe they're, okay they could be participants, or spectators as well.
And some say some of the localities simply have not the sufficient infrastructure or the hospitality service staff to organize everything in a very smooth manner and therefore after the event some people feel I don't necessarily think I'm gonna return.
And that's a bummer.
That's a missed opportunity.
It really is. I mean sometimes we are raising one very good example in Wuxi but there are also places while in China that's hosting marathons that cause some dissatisfaction.
One example is, I think I read about this in the past week.
It also took place in March, because we mentioned earlier how economically prosperous areas are really good at organizing a marathon race, because it's a really costly race that requires a lot of manpower and a lot of money to support everything, to make sure it goes smoothly.
But in one case in China one reported incident lately that's one runner that paid 388 yuan that's roughly 50 US dollars in order to participate in this race only to be given race packages that containing nearly expiry bottles of water and energy drinks you know that kind of things happening here too.
So, yeah, really how to run a marathon race This is for the local sports departments to consider maybe months and months ahead.
And it takes a lot of time in order to figure out what kind of route is the best design and how they can retain the most of the spectators to want to stay around and even come back in the future as well.
So back to that, Wuxi, more positive example here, they actually generated a total revenue of 505 million yuan this year, and that encompasses areas like catering, accommodation, transportation, tourism, exhibition sales, and convention services.
This represents a 78 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Specifically areas like tourism generated eight eight point nine million yuan and also in other areas there's a there are a million some millions of just benefits from one single marathon and that's a successful example so so yeah what can happen when it's done right when you do it right you get that great reputation and then that brings people back the following year.
Yes it is, and then with so many people participating or watching and you know maybe on the fence a little bit but they might you know lace up their shoes and try their luck with the marathon, with sufficient training obviously.
What's fueling this rise of marathons as a lifestyle choice in China?
I think we've talked about it a lot on the show, right?
About how more and more Chinese people are prioritizing fitness and just an overall healthier lifestyle an active lifestyle for some people that means getting a gym membership and hitting the weights a few times a week but that's not for everyone right for other people it's running and running the great thing about running is that you don't need a membership to run do you you need a pair of shoes and that's what makes it a great activity even for the whole family because a lot of sports for kids too can be really expensive when you have to buy equipment and memberships and things like this.
But running is something that the family can do, it's something that couples can do or individuals can do at a very affordable cost. So all of those things put together I think would be one good reason why we're seeing this shift to this kind of lifestyle.
And of course there are policies promoting such a theme for National Fitness and also increasing investment in sports infrastructure that have encouraged marathon participation just all over the country.
And, as we mentioned, I think marathon tourism is one thing, as well, because a lot of people, they're not there to run.
They're there to feel the vibe and just maybe post a picture on social media.
Hey, I'm part of this too.
Right? It's something cool.
It's a theme that people would like to talk about these days and maybe nowadays I think we mentioned this earlier just now as well as it attracts more middle income spectrum that people just have more disposable income and they're willing to pay that three hundred and eighty eighty one of just entering ticket to run around for that day and it's just one way for some us to get relaxed and feel the promotion of self, say value, elevation and better.
I'm doing better at running.
During the running and it helps me to manage stress.
That's what I see a lot from social media posts.
Also from a business point of view, right.
When these big events happen, you get a lot of media coverage, right.
You get brands involved.
That makes it a trendy thing.
It shows up on social media a lot of the time then you get the gear, the athletic gear.
that becomes a popular purchase for people too.
So there's there's lots of legs or octopus legs if you will that support this.
That reminds me of one just fun little news I read from just previous month as well just this March I think that's in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province there's one participant of a marathon race there who turned the race into a culinary adventure, because there are multiple supply stands along the marathon routes.
You can grab a bottle of water and keep on running.
You can take a bite of some cherry tomatoes and keep on running.
And this place in Wuhan, I think instead of helping the runners to focus solely on the running, they actually put various food stands at each aid station along the 42 km courses offering watermelon, small cakes, and even hot noodle soup and their local best -selling thing, like rue gamian the hot and dried noodles.
I'm sorry all of our wuhan listeners, I'm poor at translating instantly of your favorite food, but that's something that the local people really like.
So this one participant.
He just ran around, taking a selfie of himself eating each and every offered snack and even sipping on the noodles as he's jogging so that's a scenery now that's making head news making just more people to see wow you can do so many more than just running on the race.
Right and it becomes a kind of social currency and some people say it's in a sarcastic way it's associated with a certain social strata.
I remember a few years back the trendiest thing for mid to high level management of tech companies or Internet companies was, yeah I run a marathon. And people kind of just go, oh right you know but, you know you guys mentioned you know it's good to level out stress, it's good it also looks good on social media.
So nowadays maybe you know I suppose that industry has passed its heyday of attracting a too much capital, one could argue.
And now maybe maybe it's there's some new fad, not this one anymore.
But it's really interesting to see that one sport can be associated with the pensions and behavior of certain people.
Yeah. Yeah. And that happens with weightlifting, too.
I think it happens with golf as well.
And tennis too, I think would be another example.
And it's, it's, it's cool though, you know, when you really get into something, it becomes a part of your life and it becomes a big part of who you are as a person.
So obviously you're gonna see those posts show up a lot on social media, right?
And since we've seen so many people in China who are interested in marathons, or at least talking about it on social media.
can't help but wonder.
Because marathons are long races, well long runs if you're racing against yourself you know it's more than 42 kilometers long.
What's the impact of marathon running on knee health and overall well -being?
This has been extensively studied and it's yield some nuanced insights.
Yeah a lot of wear and tear on your cartilage.
There have been a lot of studies, one in particular from 2020 in BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine, they used MRI scans to examine these before and after a marathon and some runners showed short term cartilage thinning, particularly in the patella, that's your kneecap, and the femur, but recovery was observed within a few months.
It makes sense, right?
There's a lot of stress on your cartilage, your meniscus, your ligaments because you're—it's a high -impact sport, right?
Oh yeah. Yeah so it's hard on—it is hard on your knees, so take precautions if you're interested in getting involved.
And there's this very interesting new finding coming out hot and fresh from 2025 and it says that running a marathon might actually be bad to your brain health, and that was headline.
Yeah, I couldn't believe it when I first saw it.
Apparently this is a study from the nature metabolism and it says that marathon running leads to a temporary reduction in brain myelin content which could affect a neural efficiency and contribute to post -race cognitive fatigue or what we call brain fog.
Yeah, very foggy That's reversible, right?
Yeah, that's reversible Those levels recover over time But it does highlight the stress of endurance running the neurological stress of it And it does emphasize, too, the importance of really taking time to allow your body to recover, to rehydrate You need your training to be very well balanced because you don't want to push your body to a point where you're damaging it, right?
So that study doesn't indicate long -term damage but it does give some insight into how this kind of extreme physical exertion can affect your brain, and they'll do more research on that I'm sure.
I'm sure they will, and I just like to highlight the best practices to take up if you're taking up a marathon now or in the near future, strength training, proper footwear, you got to have that and also paying a few extra bucks for that I suppose, gradual mileage buildup and adequate recovery can all help mitigate the risk.
Thank you.
