The Road Races Sustainability Forum in Xiamen
When 26,318 runners finished the Xiamen Marathon on Sunday, 7 January, those 20,540 men and 5,778 women helped once again underscore this event’s standing as the premiere marathon in China.
This Platinum Label race’s 21st edition also highlighted organisers’ ambitions in other spheres, both on and off the scenic seaside course of this sprawling port city along the Taiwan Strait in southeast China.
On Thursday, organisers kicked off the fifth China Marathon Expo & Fujian Road Running Industry Expo, the largest and most important industry expo in the world’s second most populous county. About 40,000 visitors were expected. And on Friday, 5 January, nearly 350 people attended the inaugural 'Road Races Sustainability Forum', the first ever all-day event dedicated to sustainability organised by a World Athletics Label Race.
The forum featured a full slate of keynote presentations by local authorities, national and regional athletics federations, stakeholders from the private sector as well as World Athletics representatives. Alessio Punzi, Head of Running, delivered the opening remarks while Head of Sustainability Bob Ramsak used the forum as an opportunity to further acquaint race organisers and athletics officials with the World Athletics Sustainability Strategy, particularly with how it addresses Label Road Races and other mass events.
The audience included race organisers, directors and staff from more than 60 running events in China and elsewhere in the region, dozens of representatives from the Chinese Athletics Association and many of its regional and state associations, along with municipal and local authorities. Researchers, scholars and students from the Institute for Olympic Governance and Beijing Sport University also participated in and attended the event, resulting in wide-ranging exchange of knowledge, experiences and ideas.
Hua Yun, the General Manager of the marathon's organising committee, outlined the race’s sustainability journey which has placed it firmly as the leading Chinese example of sustainable delivery among road races.
Hua Yun at the Road Races Sustainability Forum in Xiamen
Xiamen first began embedding principles of sustainability into its event in 2008 when it became a smoke-free event and later added a slew of eco-friendly initiatives to reduce and eliminate waste, foster ecological protection, and promote active travel. The event’s initiatives have been noted and recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme and in 2019 the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) named it as their Green Award Winner.
Hua also outlined the event’s goals and targets over the next four years which include developing a sustainability management system that can be replicated by other events in China and stressed the importance of building strong collaborations with local and regional authorities. Hua said that they hope to make the sustainability forum an annual fixture at the event and to make it a truly global gathering by 2026. The Xiamen Marathon will be the first Platinum Label Race to be evaluated by the Athletics for a Better World Standard, the certification that evaluates, measures and scores an event’s achievement in sustainable delivery and in delivering the event in alignment with the World Athletics sustainability strategy, which has been implemented from 1 January of this year.
World Athletics presented a plaque to Ruan Dunliang, director of Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Sports, in recognition of the strong collaboration that has been built between local authorities and Xiamen Marathon organisers to develop, foster and promote sustainability initiatives.
On Saturday, the World Athletics Health & Science team, led by Director Stephane Bermon and Frederic Garrandes, Health and Science Project Manager, conducted their second of two Race Emergency Medicine Courses in China. Thirty-four race medical directors were certified, which combined with the 28 certified at a previous course in Shanghai, means that 91% of China's Race Medical Directors are now certified by the World Academy For Endurance Medicine, by far the leading member federation in the world.
World Athletics