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November 4, 2014

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Marathon economy jogs along at nice pace

By Xu Wenwen | November 4, 2014, Tuesday | Print Edition

A marathon that takes average runners six hours to finish has produced millions of yuan in economic benefits for Hangzhou.

The 28th Hangzhou International Marathon on Sunday attracted about 30,000 runners from 35 countries and regions including China, the US, Australia, France and Ethiopia.

The annual event, dubbed “the beautiful marathon” since much of the route is among green hills and along waterways, has gone into the record books. A record number of participants competed while the top prize of US$40,000 almost doubled last year’s payout.

The so-called marathon economy actually started running months before the race.

“We had customers book rooms for dates during the marathon 90 days in advance,” said Zhang Wei, manager of Pod Inn, an inexpensive hotel franchise with five inns around Huanglong Stadium, where the marathon started.

She said normally customers only book rooms one month in advance.

Pod Inn’s five locations were almost completely full while “normally only a little more than 50 percent of the rooms are booked at this time of year,” Zhang said.

Pod Inn isn’t the only business to benefit from the race.

“Some companies registered for the marathon and sent hundreds of employees to participate in groups,” said Li Xue, director of Hangzhou Zhimei Culture Co. “All these groups would definitely spend money in the city.”

The marathon’s prestige is rising and with it demand for an entry slot.

Numerous runners said they had a difficult time registering for the race because its website crashed due to heavy demand.

A common refrain among runners has been “I pressed F5 to refresh the page for hours but I couldn’t see the webpage.”

This fever for running has spilled over into other areas besides hotels and catering.

Michelle Liao, a local runner, said she bought running shoes costing more than 900 yuan (US$146), a 1,500-yuan gym membership card for training, a 400-yuan music headset and other gear.

Liao said many marathon runners also purchase energy gels, or carbohydrate gels that provide energy while exercising and which also help recovery.

“We take seven or eight pieces during the race or training, which costs around 100 yuan,” Liao said.

The sales of running products has increased almost 100 percent this year compared to 2013 at Decathlon, a French sporting goods retailer, according to Qianjiang Evening News.

The report also stated that Decathlon is developing more running products to meet growing demand in China. The store reserves its best position for running products, “which would have been unbelievable a few years ago,” Decathlon’s store manager in Hangzhou told the local newspaper.

Li Xue, also a marathon fan, said: “Runners like to be armed to the teeth. They feel it’s necessary to have the best sportswear, wearable devices, protein powder and energy gels. Plus the women want a sports bra and the men need nipple paste to prevent chafing.”

Each runner pays from 40 yuan to 80 yuan to register while the marathon received about 15 million yuan in sponsorships from title sponsors. Organizers said they spent 4 million yuan to have state-owned CCTV broadcast the race, including some aerial shots from a helicopter.

“The race helps promote the city,” said Wu Zifu, president of the Hangzhou Marathon Fan Association. “The participation of worldwide runners helps raise the quality of the event.”

In 2011, only 22 marathons were held around the country. There have been 50 marathons held so far this year including in Beijing and Shanghai.

Hangzhou


 

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