The recent Run China series has pushed marathons into the spotlight, making them a hot topic and drawing unprecedented attention from mainstream media. From the controversy surrounding He Yinli to the finish line incident with the champion, it has sparked wave after wave of public opinion. For example, the latest article 'Cherish Life, Stay Away from Chinese Rustic Marathons' (hereinafter referred to as 'Cherish'), produced by the famous Vista Look at the World.

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Vista Look at the World: Cherish Life, Stay Away from Chinese Rustic Marathons

'Chinese Rustic Marathons'? This is the first time I've heard of it. I've often heard of Chinese rural dogs, the kind that bark at everyone indiscriminately without knowing any better. I've seen quite a few of those.

The 'Cherish' article seems to have compiled various bizarre incidents from marathons in recent years. Why do I say compiled? Because it went through them without any discernment, indiscriminately swinging a big stick. Saying this article is full of dubious claims and loopholes is not an exaggeration.

'Groundless' accusations, we won't take the blame for that.!

For example, it complains about the low lottery rate. 'Although there are thousands of races every year, the most popular ones are always those few. Marathons in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing, etc., even require a lottery, with individual lottery rates below 40%.' I don't understand why the author is complaining about this. Is a low lottery rate also a fault? Is it rustic? Sorry, the London Marathon has an even lower lottery rate, and you don't even qualify for the Boston Marathon because it recognizes performance. A low lottery rate indicates a well-organized event with strong appeal, which is why everyone wants to participate, leading to a lower lottery rate.

Another baseless accusation is, 'Many events require participants to have experience in races of the same distance or have certain performance requirements, but some people still insist on participating even if they don't meet the criteria.'According to the 'Cherish' article, should it be open for anyone to register and run as long as they want?

Why should there be performance requirements and certain thresholds? This is related to the need to close roads for marathons. Initially, marathons were only for professional athletes, but they gradually opened up to amateur runners, from 3 hours to 5 hours, and later to a 6-hour cutoff. One reason for setting a cutoff time is to consider that cities cannot afford to close roads for too long. Hosting a marathon in a city incurs significant costs, including traffic resources. Many marathons set cutoff times to balance the event with city traffic and minimize the impact on citizens' travel.

Oddly enough,the 'Cherish' article later criticizes marathons for closing roads. Isn't this self-contradictory?Vista Look at the World says it's intolerable for marathons to close roads in urban areas. Why can marathons in cities worldwide be held in urban areas, but not in our cities? The six major marathons all close roads, as do non-major city marathons, the Olympics, and the World Championships. This is a necessary measure for the event.

This is not unreasonable, focusing solely on marathons. Large outdoor events like cycling races also require traffic control in certain areas, mainly for safety. It's for the safety of both the participants and the spectators. This is also true for large gatherings. Marathons are not unique in this regard, and road closures are not arbitrary.

'Insisting on participating despite not qualifying' is indeed a groundless accusation and a very ambiguous statement. From the organizer's perspective, this issue doesn't exist. Marathons are not like inviting someone to dinner, nor are they like police summons. In this day and age, I've never seen anyone 'insisting on participating despite not qualifying.' Even in the workplace, bosses don't dare to guarantee that they can make their subordinates 'participate despite not qualifying,' let alone in marathons.Even in the workplace, bosses don't dare to guarantee that they can make their subordinates 'participate despite not qualifying,' let alone in marathons.Even in the workplace, bosses don't dare to guarantee that they can make their subordinates 'participate despite not qualifying,' let alone in marathons.

From the runner's perspective,'Insisting on participating despite not qualifying'refers to bandit running and bib swapping, which are forms of cheating. But this is not unique to China. Major marathons abroad also have this issue. Many small community marathons have bandit runners and bib swappers, and the organizers are well aware of it. Foreign media call them bandit runners. Bad people and cheaters exist in every race, nationality, gender, and circle.

The article has multiple instances of misattribution.

The 'Cherish' articlemisattributes events—for example, considering the Huangshan Trail Race as a marathon. Itis actually a trail race, not a marathon. Even if it were considered a marathon, encountering muddy roads due to heavy rain is common in trail races, both domestically and internationally.

Another example of blaming marathons for bad weather is the Hengdian Marathon, which encountered torrential rain, causing runners to wade through water. What's wrong with running in the rain? The 2018 Boston Marathon faced headwinds, heavy rain, low temperatures, and lightning, making it the worst weather in its 122-year history and the most challenging marathon. This year's Venice Marathon course was flooded.

(Image from the internet. Japanese athlete Yuki Kawauchi on the Venice Marathon course this year)

Marathon running is a sport of self-challenge. The marathon spirit is not only about overcoming oneself but also about battling adverse weather. Sports are not just simple physical activities; they are also about teaching perseverance, cooperation, and rules.

The 'Cherish' article also mentions,'Villagers nearby snatched supplies, and volunteers couldn't stop them.' Should marathons and runners take the blame for the bad behavior of nearby villagers? Similar incidents of villagers taking advantage are often reported in the media, such as villagers looting goods from overturned trucks on highways. Uncivilized behavior ultimately stems from individual qualities and has no direct connection to a sport. Just like the media industry is important, but there are still reporters who cobble together information and misattribute events. This is a matter of personal quality, not directly related to the industry.

On April 24, 2016, the London Marathon started. The Daily Mail exposed that in Deptford, southeast London, dozens of people staged a water-snatching battle. Water meant for marathon runners was taken by these people, with many using small carts and trolleys to take entire cases.

Once you understand its history, you won't call it 'bizarre' anymore!

The medal that Vista Look at the World called a bizarre medal actually features the Golden Baby of Jinchang. If you understand its history, you wouldn't call the medal bizarre.

(Image from the internet)

Jinchang used to be a desert. In 1958, geological prospectors discovered a nickel ore here, a historically significant find! It turned out that this place had abundant nickel reserves, the largest in China and the second largest in the world, lifting China out of its status as a nickel-poor country.

As a result, a large number of industrial workers and technicians from across the country came here, starting a new era of non-ferrous metals. Pioneers from all over the country built an enterprise, Jinchuan Company, on the desert. As the population grew, the enterprise gradually developed into a city. Known as China's Nickel Capital, Jinchang not only has rich nickel reserves but also other rare and precious metals. It can be said that Jinchang is a kingdom of non-ferrous metals.

In the spring of 1966, Comrade Deng Xiaoping visited here and praised Jinchang as a 'rare golden baby.' Since then, Jinchang has been known as the country's golden baby. The golden baby has become a symbol of Jinchang, with a large iconic sculpture of the golden baby standing in the Jinchang People's Cultural Square in front of the city government. This is also a well-known tourist landmark in Jinchang. It's not hard to understand why the finisher medal of the Jinchang International Marathon features this naked little boy.

There are many truths, but they can't withstand a dark heart, can they?

The 'Cherish' article also contains many bizarre statements, filled with speculation and wild imagination.

For example, the registration fee is a piece of fat meat,'Government-led achievements, company advertising, athletes suffering,''Many marathon enthusiasts avoid eating or drinking to avoid using the toilet in public,' etc. These statements are basically nonsense, full of deep misunderstandings and prejudices against marathons.

The claim that 'only 10 IAAF-certified events' is also false. The truth is that the U.S. and Japan have more marathons, with higher overall levels and better organization, but they have fewer certified events than we do. The number of certifications has nothing to do with being rustic or sophisticated.

The 'Cherish' article also uses a photo of a messy aid station from an unknown event. The truth is that after the peak period, most marathon aid station volunteers and sanitation workers clean up. City marathons generally ensure that the roads are clean when they are reopened. This is thanks to the hard work of sanitation workers and volunteers. Slandering marathons is one thing, but using messy photos to spread rumors actually undermines the hard work of sanitation workers and volunteers.the hard work of sanitation workers and volunteers.

For example, saying that the Jinyuetan Marathon 'pre-race supply bag contained alcohol'—the pre-race participant bag included a small bottle of Jinjiu as a souvenir, not a supply. If you personally want to treat it as a supply, we have no objection, but what's the problem with that? Is there a problem with toothpaste? Is it worth making such a fuss over a sponsor's souvenir?

For example, the '17-year-old peanuts' at the Zhoukou Marathon—the organizing committee later clarified:'The peanuts themselves were fine. They were homemade by an elderly local resident in Zhoukou. Because the loose packaging was inconvenient for distribution, the organizing committee asked the elderly resident to repackage them, but they didn't know where the packaging bags were bought from.'

For example, the large-scale cheating incident at the Shenzhen Nanshan Half Marathon—don't tell me there are no bandit runners abroad. The Boston Marathon has had people taking the subway and shamelessly claiming rankings. As I said, every circle has its oddballs, and cheaters exist in every country.Every circle has its oddballs, and cheaters exist in every country.

It's clear that the author of the 'Cherish' article doesn't understand marathons. This is not surprising; how long have marathons been popular? It's unrealistic to expect everyone to understand a sport that has just started. However, this is no excuse for not doing your homework. Such a fact-distorting, dubious, and misattributing article, filled with speculation and prejudice, is hard to imagine coming from Vista Look at the World. Riding the wave of popularity is easy, but it actually damages your credibility.

Not understanding a sport is not scary. What's scary is being a three-season person.

Can marathons be criticized? Yes, but we hope the criticism is well-founded. Do marathons have problems? Indeed, they do, and quite a few. But compiling the 'mistakes' of thousands of events over several years into one article, as 'Cherish' does, is truly unfair. Moreover, there are too many errors and misattributions in it, making such a stigmatization of marathons quite rare.The 'Cherish' article does contain some truths, but its criticisms miss the mark.As a recent article in China Youth Daily aptly put it: 'The burdened Chinese marathons need to lighten their load!' It also quotes industry insiders—

'I believe the recent public focus on marathons will have a positive impact on the development of the events. The most frightening situation is when no one pays attention,' said Ren Junshen. 'If we compare marathons to schools, each season brings new students who need to learn the rules and manners. We can't deny the efforts of the school just because some kids misbehave.'Indeed, they need to lighten their load! Because marathons have taken on too many things that don't belong to them, including a lot of formalistic additions and baseless slander like in the 'Cherish' article.

Are marathons special? No, they are like any other sport.

Are marathons special? No, they are like any other sport.