12,000 Runners Dash as Miyun Eco-Marathon Kicks Off, Electrifying the Running Community

At 7:30 a.m. on May 26, the Zhuzong Guoxiang 2024 Miyun Eco-Marathon kicked off. The event is certified by the Chinese Athletics Association, hosted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports and the Miyun District People's Government of Beijing, organized by the Miyun District Sports Bureau and the Miyun District Sports Federation, and operated by Beijing Zhongrui Sports Industry Co., Ltd.

As China's first marathon themed on "ecology," this year's event reached a new scale, attracting runners from across the country to sign up. The total number of registrations hit 42,000, with a final participant count of 12,000, divided into three categories: marathon (4,000 runners), half marathon (5,000), and mini marathon (3,000).

The mini marathon featured special running groups such as Eco-Water Conservation, Bee Honey Abundance, Tomato Carnival, General Aviation Camping, and Ice & Snow Town, directly integrating Miyun's characteristic agriculture and cultural tourism elements into the event. This truly realized the integrated development of culture, tourism, sports, and agriculture, making the marathon an important window to showcase Miyun's economic and social achievements. Today, the Miyun Eco-Marathon has become a shining gold name card for Miyun.

Professionalism Raises the Bar for Miyun Marathon Speed

New event records were set in both the full and half marathon races. Chinese runner Ding Changqin won the women's marathon in 2:34:52, also taking the Chinese Special Award for female marathoners and breaking the previous event record. In the men's half marathon, Kenyan runner Njoroge Derrick Chege won in 1:06:50, while Chinese runners Zhang Yue and Zhou Qingsheng took second and third place respectively. All three athletes broke the previous event record.

Chinese runner Ding Changqin broke the women's marathon event record.

Men's half marathon champion Njoroge Derrick Chege, Chinese runner-up Zhang Yue, and third-place finisher Zhou Qingsheng all broke the event record.

The frequent setting of new records not only reflects the athletes' high level but also highlights Miyun Marathon's unremitting efforts in creating a professional event.

This year's Miyun Marathon upgraded its prize mechanism: the top 30 finishers in both the full and half marathons are now eligible for awards, doubling the number of winners compared to previous editions. The full marathon champion's prize money was also increased to 30,000 yuan. Additionally, a Special Award for Chinese Athletes was introduced for the first time, fully igniting the enthusiasm of domestic marathon runners.

Building on past experience, this year also adopted a "mixed full and half marathon start zone" mechanism for the first time, placing runners of similar ability levels into the same assembly area. This made the starting phase faster and more efficient, providing strong support for athletes to achieve excellent personal results.

Diverse Experiences Ignite Enthusiasm for Miyun Marathon

The organizing committee meticulously planned a series of innovative pre-race warm-up events, including the Miyun Marathon Training Camp, a 10km warm-up race, a mini marathon, and fun runs such as parent-child runs, bubble runs, and glow-in-the-dark night runs, all aimed at creating a vibrant and colorful competitive atmosphere for the main event.

According to statistics, these warm-up activities attracted over 3,000 participants across all age groups, fully demonstrating the event's mass participation. Meanwhile, the Miyun Marathon online race, which opened registration on May 11, has drawn over 140,000 participants. This figure not only broke last year's record but also powerfully demonstrates the growing influence and appeal of the Miyun Marathon.

Today, through continuously innovative event formats and diversified content, the Miyun Marathon has successfully extended the enthusiasm from professional running circles to a wider audience. In its own unique way, it interprets the perfect fusion of sports and the city, fashion and vitality, showcasing the unique charm of "Fashionable Sports, Vibrant Miyun."

Heartwarming Services Elevate the Miyun Marathon Experience

The Miyun Marathon adheres to the "runners first" philosophy, continuously optimizing and upgrading the service experience. Pre-race rookie training camps help novice runners quickly learn how to run healthily and master scientific nutrition strategies. Through the "Sunshine Call" initiative, visually impaired runner guides were added to help all visually impaired athletes finish the race smoothly.

Along the course, 23 aid stations were set up, providing not only standard supplies like water, sports drinks, energy gels, and salt tablets, but also Miyun specialties such as small bread rolls, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers. Additionally, the committee installed 19 misting stations along the route, along with 440kg of edible ice, 650kg of seafood ice, 50,000 sponges, 48 large ice buckets, and 24 small ice buckets, offering comprehensive cooling services for the runners.

Eco-Themed Race Highlights Miyun's Unique Character

As China's first eco-themed marathon, the event from preparation to execution consistently integrated green and environmental concepts, highlighting its ecological focus. Leveraging Miyun's unique natural environment, the route was designed along the Chao River, with clear waters and lush greenery on both banks, creating an eco-course where runners could fully enjoy the pleasure of running amidst beautiful scenery blending water and greenery.

The finisher's medal this year was also eco-themed, featuring natural elements like sunlight, trees, and lake water alongside urban architecture, reflecting their intrinsic connection and creating a display of ecological civilization with Miyun characteristics.

Moreover, before the race, the Miyun Marathon organized public recycling drives and promoted a "zero waste" initiative, encouraging the public and participants to actively adopt a green, low-carbon lifestyle and jointly foster a sound ecological environment. The Miyun Marathon is interpreting the harmonious coexistence of sports and nature through concrete actions, allowing the concept of green living to take root and sprout with every step.

Multidimensional Development Deepens the Impact of Miyun Marathon

The Miyun Marathon has achieved deep cross-sector integration with surrounding cultural, agricultural, and tourism industries, forging its own distinctive path of sports industry development.

A marathon brings not only athletic competition but also serves as a vital force in driving local agricultural economic development and rural revitalization. In this year's event, Miyun's local agricultural products were provided to runners as refreshments.

Simultaneously, the mini marathon featured distinctive running groups such as Eco-Water Conservation, Bee Honey Abundance, Tomato Carnival, General Aviation Camping, and Ice & Snow Town, directly embodying Miyun's culture in the run and truly promoting tourism through sports. Thus, the event has become a showcase for the local development of eco-cultural tourism and eco-agriculture, injecting new vitality into rural revitalization.

This year's Miyun Marathon Carnival was also completely upgraded, inviting over 100 enterprises to participate. It integrated cultural festivals, music festivals, and sports festivals, using the race as a medium to drive the development of Miyun's cultural, sports, tourism, agricultural, and commercial industries, promote regional economic growth, and contribute Miyun's strength to Beijing's construction of the "Two Zones and One Center."

The carnival featured a variety of food and Miyun specialty agricultural products such as honey and tomatoes, along with well-known local hotels, B&Bs, and scenic spots. It also included coffee, dining, barbecues, outdoor movies, runner meetups, first aid workshops, band performances, and more, allowing citizens to enjoy a splendid sports gala right at their doorstep, and enabling runners to eat, drink, play, shop, and experience the purest Miyun customs all in one place.

Notably, the Miyun Eco-Marathon also shoulders the important mission of promoting regional common development. This year marks the 10th anniversary of coordinated development among Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, and the event specially added a "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Eco-Runner Alliance Challenge," attracting runners from across the three regions. Furthermore, the participation of Yushu City and Kulun Banner, which are paired cooperation units of Miyun District, extended the race's reach across wider geographical boundaries, turning it into a bridge connecting different regions and cultures and propelling economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation to new heights.

The Miyun Eco-Marathon, with its unique ecological theme, professional organization, diverse activities, and meticulous services, has won enthusiastic praise and widespread acclaim from runners. It not only provides a platform for running enthusiasts to challenge and surpass themselves but has also become an important link in promoting regional economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation.

In the future, the Miyun Marathon will strive to align itself with higher-level international events, aiming to become a World Athletics Elite Label Road Race, and continuously explore innovative new models of "sports+" integrated development. Through concrete actions, it will contribute more to promoting national fitness, rural revitalization, and the comprehensive progress of regional economic and social development.