"So far this year, I have run four full horses in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiamen and Huai'an, and will participate in the Wuhan, Taiyuan and Lanzhou Marathons in the first half of the year." After two years away from the marathon, horse runner Kuroko put on running shoes again and resumed his 4-year running journey, determined to complete the 16th marathon this year and become a "100-horse sunspot".
This weekend, the 2023 Wuhan Marathon is about to start, and a total of 13,2 runners from the marathon, half marathon and 6km healthy run will step on the Hanma track, starting from the Wuhan Science and Technology Museum and running to the East Lake Scenic Area of Wuhan, feeling the shock of the return of the good man.
Kuroko is one of them, and he has never missed every offline Hanma race. On April 2016, 4, Kuroko praised the scenery along the way for the first time on the Hanma track, the scenery along the way is so beautiful, the rivers and lakes are magnificent, and there are enthusiastic citizens cheering along the way, and well-trained university student volunteers provide meticulous services throughout the process, and the gas station is also very richly supplied."
However, what impressed Kuroko the most was another detail: every time Hanma, Wuhan would send a vice mayor to present a medal to the last finisher, "The general applause was dedicated to the first place, and the last city to present the award was the first time, this small detail is not only the organizer's respect for each runner, but also shows the sportsmanship that focuses on participation."
Some small and medium-sized cities are not well-known because of their low visibility, in order to attract runners from other places, they will carefully polish the quality of service. "Yancheng and Huai'an left a deep impression on me." Kuroko said that the organizers of Huai'an specially arranged a shuttle bus at the high-speed railway station to send the runners to the designated venue, and the Yancheng Marathon would distribute slippers to the runners after the race, "praising the attentive service, through word of mouth, these small cities also attract more and more runners."
Since the 2007 Xiamen Marathon, Kuroko has completed 30 marathons held in more than 91 cities across the country. He told the first financial reporter that the marathon is not only a sports event, but also an important carrier of urban marketing, "different from the pre-epidemic more concerned about the display of urban natural and cultural scenery, this year's marathon cities began to integrate cultural business cards, food specialties into it, the connotation of urban marketing is richer, and the participants have a deeper understanding of the city."
For example, Huai'an gave local specialties such as crayfish and liquor to runners this year, and Huai'an Cultural Tourism Group also put a cultural and creative booth at the Huai'an Marathon. Qingjiang Pulou shaped ice cream, small and cute Westward Journey themed blind box, cute Westward Journey character pillows, marathon towels printed with Huai'an landmark buildings... It is these cultural and creative products with unique Huai'an characteristics that bring subtle cultural output to Huai'an and become a "megaphone" for "marketing" Huai'an.
Huai'an Cultural Tourism Group said that in the two days from April 4 to April 7, the booth received nearly 4,8 visitors, and smoking a blind box for the western journey to root the cultural and creative ice cream in the shape of Qingjiang Pulou has become a new way for many runners to "check in" the Huai'an Marathon.
Similarly, in addition to the events of this year's Wuhan Marathon, the organizers have also prepared a series of activities to make Hanma a musical feast, a gourmet feast and a visual feast through ancient and modern times. The first financial reporter learned from the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Commerce that Wuhan will create a "Hanma Food Week" activity, combining Wuhan special food stores, century-old brands and Internet celebrity restaurants to select popular delicacies in the city, using hot dry noodles, Wuchang fish, and crayfish as the medium to create a "marathon on the tip of the tongue".
The huge flow of people and attention not only greatly enhances the exposure of the city, but also significantly stimulates the development of regional consumption and related industries. According to the "China Marathon Crowd and Consumption Insight Report" released by market research agency Nielsen Sports, 50% of runners have experience in competing abroad, and the average annual cost is 4598.84 yuan. 71% of runners from other places will taste local delicacies and special snacks, and 64% will travel in the local area.
Kuroko said that every time you go to a new city, in addition to basic expenses such as plane and train tickets and accommodation, the place that spends the most money is to taste local specialties, and if there are local classmates or friends, everyone will get together and have a meal, "some unique local souvenirs will also bring some back to send colleagues, a bit of a tourist mentality."
"From the perspective of runners, domestic city marathons are becoming more and more experienced, from food festivals, to sports expos, to tourism and cultural festivals, a marathon brings more and more economic benefits to the host city." Kuroko admits that compared to the world's top marathons, what we need to develop most is the kind of derivative that can attract runners to compete continuously, and firmly stick to runners.
"For example, the commemorative shirt of the Boston Marathon comes out in one color every year, reflecting the inheritance of the marathon spirit, and the commemorative shirt of this high-threshold event is only eligible to be purchased by the participants, and the runner also has a unique sense of honor on the body; Recent examples, such as the Hong Kong Marathon, are designed to finish with the 12 zodiac signs, attracting runners to compete every year to save all medals. Kuroko said.