The growing popularity of long-distance running in China has made the chance to qualify for the marathon “more difficult than winning the lottery”, but experts believe that this requirement only masks deeper issues in the country’s competitive professional practice.
He Wenyi, secretary-general of the national sports industry research center at Peking University, told the South China Morning Post that while mass participation was on the rise, there was a fundamental disconnect between China’s “fever” and its competitive success.
“You can’t mix the two,” he said. “Competitive sports are based on talent selection and scientific training, while most of our marathons today are a way for young people to follow trends and look good. These are two completely different paths.”
Applications for this year’s Shanghai Marathon have surpassed last year’s total less than halfway through the registration period, director of the city’s sports bureau Xu Bin revealed on Monday.
Scheduled for December 6, the race celebrated its 30th anniversary and increased capacity to 30,000, but demand has continued to outstrip supply.
Last year, the event reportedly attracted 356,589 entrants, with a 7.2 percent success rate for entering the full marathon. This followed 257,854 applicants with a rate of 11.2 percent in 2024, and 172,872 applicants with a rate of 13.7 percent in 2023.
