Tapping potential of 'marathon economy'

The share of the tertiary sector in China's GDP has been increasing in recent years, with the growth rates of the culture, sports, tourism, and health industries being higher than the average GDP growth rate. In line with China's goal of becoming a modern socialist country by 2035, the sports industry is expected to become a pillar of the national economy, with its annual added value projected to be about 4 percent of GDP. At present, this figure is about 1.1 percent.

Within the sports industry, the marathon race industry has one of the highest growth rates. Among the 699 road races held in China in 2023, marathon events accounted for 245, with a total participation of about 1.07 million person-times and about 544,600 person-times of completion. Data show about 293,200 runners completed a full marathon in 2023.

Indeed, marathon events have become an economic and cultural phenomenon.

Way back in 2014, the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a document to guide the development of the sports industry and increase consumption in the sports sector. Since then, marathon events, runners, organizers, sponsors and start-ups and related service providers have increased manyfold.

About 90 percent of Chinese cities have hosted marathon events. In 2023, more than 11,000 runners completed the marathon in three hours or less, and the number of participants who completed half marathons increased by 500,000 compared with 2022.

In recent years, some marathon events have granted entry to runners through lotteries, with less than 20 percent of the applicants getting entry to popular marathons such as those in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Chinese cities are willing to host marathons for two primary reasons.

First, marathon events can boost local consumption, especially increasing the revenue of the transportation, accommodation, catering, shopping, and tourism sectors.

This year's Guilin Marathon yielded direct economic benefits of 183 million yuan ($25.07 million) and indirect benefits of 296 million yuan, and the 2024 Wuxi Marathon boosted the accommodation, transportation, catering and tourism sectors' revenue by about 283 million yuan, up 45.5 percent year-on-year.

The second reason why marathons have become so popular is that they increase social interactions and promote a city's culture. Online services, despite making life more convenient, lead to social isolation. In contrast, a marathon event brings tens of thousands of people physically together and helps invigorate participants and inject new vitality in the host city.

However, the "marathon fever" in China has triggered public debates. Some scoff at the increasing number of marathon enthusiasts, even though organizing a marathon event is a challenge, as it involves personnel management, registration, supplies, supervision, transportation, accommodation, cleaning, security and attending to medical emergencies. Despite the flaws that have been exposed, the marathon events in China will continue to improve and mature as a flourishing industry.

But despite the increasing number of marathon events, China hosts far less marathon events than countries such as the United States and Japan. As a developing country with a huge population, China has the capability to host more marathon events to meet the rising demand.

The marathon race industry in China has huge growth potential because more and more people are pursuing a richer spiritual life and attaching greater importance to healthy living. Therefore, more people will participate in marathons, and more organizations will be established to provide services accordingly. In fact, marathon events have the potential to lead the sports industry and the fitness-for-all campaign.

The marathon movement boomed in Western developed countries in the late 20th century, but the pace of development has since slowed down in the West, with Asian countries such as China and Japan emerging as the new leaders in the sector. The World Marathon Majors, co-founded by World Athletics and Abbott, have set high standards for competitive levels but have limited knowledge and management experience to share with the global marathon community. This presents an opportunity for China, as a latecomer to the marathon scene, to contribute to marathon events' development and become a global leader in the sector. The Shanghai and Xiamen marathons are the only two Platinum Label Road Races of World Athletics in China, and they can be used as models for China to explore the possibility of holding more high-profile marathons while contributing local experiences and standards to marathons worldwide.