Safety the priority

Staging the race successfully during the pandemic not only depended on a great deal of enthusiasm, but also on rigorous and practical measures being taken.

Under guidance from the Municipal Health Commission and epidemic prevention experts, the organizing committee drew up a plan for the event. The 79-page document took 192 days to compile and covered all aspects of the race.

Referees, volunteers and staff members were required to have a nucleic acid test in the week before race day and state they were committed to health and safety efforts.

Zhou Jin, general manager of Shanghai Donghao Lansheng Event Management Co, said more than 6,000 front-line workers completed COVID-19 tests.

Applicants from medium-and high-risk areas were excluded by the organizers, along with those showing abnormal health codes and foreigners from outside China.

In addition to taking nucleic acid tests, runners were told to check their health and file their temperature readings to the app for 10 days before the event.

On race day, competitors had to wear face masks from the assembly points to the starting lines, where they were required to maintain social distancing. To avoid large crowds, three starting lines were used for the first time, Zhou said.

Runners were also told to use hand sanitizers provided near the finish line and to wear a mask after their heart rate dropped to the normal level, Zhou added.

Cyberspace events

In addition to limiting the race to 9,000 participants, organizers of the Shanghai Marathon reduced the number of related events to ensure safety, but this failed to deter the huge numbers of those wanting to take part.

To cater to them, the organizers staged online running events for the first time.

Several races took place online, including 1-kilometer, 5-km and 10-km events, half and full marathons, and group races. The committee also prepared online running certificates and awarded points and prizes.

Yu Libin, who had been aiming to break his personal best time of 3:56:00 this year, failed to qualify for the Shanghai Marathon.

"I then learned that points could be won for the online race, which would give me a better chance of qualification next year, so I signed up for all the online events. This type of incentive is very good," Yu said.

Chen Xiaolu, 37, took part in the online marathon and other events after missing out on qualification for the physical race.

"I finished all five events in a week. This experience is very special. While I was running, I listened to (Shanghai actor) Huang Hao's introduction to the marathon course in the local dialect, which was friendly and relaxing," Chen said.

Over 20 days, a total of 121,958 people signed up for the online races, including many from Japan, the United States, Canada, Malaysia and Singapore.

Supply stations were positioned every 2.5 km to 5 km along the Shanghai course by the organizing committee.

The race package provided by the committee to help runners recover included water, a banana, a towel, slippers, chocolate and a blanket.

More than 400 referees maintained order at the starting points, the finish line and along the course, while 48 positions were manned by 3,872 volunteers from colleges and universities.

In addition to two medical stations, there were 26 medical rescue points on the course, 20 ambulances on standby and nearly 1,000 medical workers and emergency volunteers in attendance.

Zhang Wenhong, head of Shanghai's COVID-19 clinical expert team, said the fact the marathon had been staged successfully was good encouragement for health workers and the public.

"The marathon was a new turning point, meaning we have entered a normalized anti-epidemic stage," said Zhang, who is also director of the Infectious Disease Department at Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University.

With runners again finally able to take part in physical races, all three major events staged on Sunday trended on social media, with the hashtag "Chengdu Marathon "viewed more than 98 million times on Sina Weibo by Sunday afternoon.