China’s spring races drew tens of thousands
The JD.com Suqian Marathon on March 29 attracted about 12,000 runners across its scenic course in Suqian, emphasizing the event’s international reach and festive atmosphere. The Yangzhou Half Marathon—held the same day and serving as the 4th East Asian Half Marathon Championships—saw over 23,000 participants racing historic canals and city streets. ( )
The Suqian race coincided with Suqian’s 30th anniversary as a prefecture-level city, a milestone organisers highlighted during opening remarks. (yna.co.kr) Organisers billed the marathon’s 42.195‑kilometre route as intentionally routed to “weave together the beautiful spring scenery,” and post-race materials praised the event’s on-course service and support measures. (manilatimes.net) The Suqian event’s official site lists race rules, route maps and organiser contact details, naming Nanjing Magic Box (南京魔盒信息科技有限公司) as the event operator and showing registration and team-competition arrangements. (sqmarathon.com) Yangzhou’s organisers combined the city half, the East Asian Half Marathon Championships and the Grand Canal Marathon Series into a single event this year and said the field’s scale was expanded versus 2025, with entrants representing some 35 countries and regions. (seeyangzhou.com) At the elite level, World Athletics reported Kenya’s Alex Nzioka Matata won the Yangzhou headline race in a course‑record 59:11 — a Chinese all‑comers record — while Miriam Chebet set a new women’s course mark in 1:06:27. (worldathletics.org) The regional East Asian Half Marathon Championships produced different national winners: Japan’s Taiga Hirayama took the men’s title in 1:02:50, and China’s Tiantian Liang won the women’s race in 1:10:03, according to World Athletics results. (worldathletics.org)
