Marathon travel projects draw more foreign runners to Chinese cities

Chinese road races are attracting runners who combine competition with city visits, according to Xinhua reporting published October 25. The report followed Japanese runner Himiko Izumi as she traveled to Tianjin for its marathon and described earlier trips to Taiyuan and Baotou. Organizers and local sources cited by Xinhua provided participation figures, but no spending or visitor-revenue totals.

Taiyuan Marathon organizers said nearly 100 foreign runners from 12 countries and regions took part in the 2026 event, with the count rising year by year. That is a count of foreign runners in the event, not a share of all entrants; the report does not give the total field size. In September, 18 students from Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Yemen and Vietnam joined a separate 10-kilometre race in Anze County, Shanxi, and visited local cultural sites during the trip.

Shanghai’s figures describe two different groups. The 2025 Shanghai Marathon had 23,000 runners, and the city reported that international runners made up 13.3 percent of that race field. Separately, the Shanghai Marathon’s International Tourism Partner project recruited 585 runners in 2025, up from 32 in 2024; those project participants came from 26 countries and regions. The 585 are program recruits, not the total number of foreign runners at the marathon.

The tourism-partner project connects race participation with travel planning and city experiences. Runners interviewed by Xinhua described visiting museums, cycling near Chagan Lake and exploring local heritage around their races. These are individual examples, not evidence that every entrant extended a stay or bought a travel package. Xinhua did not report hotel nights, transport spending, ticket revenue or the project’s economic impact.

Event organizers and local officials have framed the races as opportunities for international visitors to experience cities beyond the course. In the report, a Shanxi University professor said mass-participation events and improved organization can give foreign residents and visitors a way to explore local culture. The article provides runner counts and examples of activities, but no survey measuring what motivated participants or how much they spent.