Full of fireworks, these are the stories of amateur runners. Those who can run on the horse racing track are the lucky ones.

This Sunday morning, the annual Shanghai Marathon is about to start. This is a platinum-labeled event with a unique appeal, and the event winning rate is only 13.7%.

Those who mount a horse and run on the track every year are the lucky ones. Through random interviews, the author presents interesting stories between several amateur runners and horse racing.

In the first Shanghai Marathon in 1996, Huang Fortune, 46 years old at the time, finished 12th in 2 hours, 51 minutes and 53 seconds. He was born in 1950. He entered the factory at the age of 18 and participated in the first horse race because he liked running.

On November 26, the much-anticipated 2023 Shanghai Marathon will kick off at Jinniu Plaza on the Bund.

Due to various reasons, he basically stopped running after participating in the first horse race. Since 2014, Huang Fortune has restarted his running life. As he gets older, Huang Fortune, who previously ran full marathons, started to get involved in half marathons. In the first half of this year, he participated in the Shanghai Half Marathon for the first time, with a time of 1 hour, 29 minutes and 15 seconds.

On October 29 this year, he took his wife to participate in the Tonglu Half Marathon for the purpose of traveling and warming up. The result was 1 hour, 30 minutes and 23 seconds. Huang Caifu said that marathon has been integrated into his life. He now runs basically every day and plays more of a role as a private promoter of the marathon.

In an interview with the author, he said: "Today's runners have caught up with the good times. The whole atmosphere is very good and the society is very concerned about it. For example, there are different levels of sponsors when running a horse. When we ran, we all relied on our own thinking. How could there be any Now we have such good equipment and comprehensive supplies.”

On the afternoon of November 24, 2023, the Shanghai Marathon Organizing Committee held a pre-match press conference and elite player meeting to release relevant information about the event.

Huang Fortune is very busy these days. On the one hand, he has to cooperate with sponsors to participate in some activities and accept interviews; on the other hand, he also organizes gatherings for old friends and running mates from all over the country. Wei Yuxiang is one of them.

Wei Yuxiang was born in 1962 and currently lives in Fuyang, Hangzhou. He started running as early as 1983. In the 1988 Harbin International Marathon 20-kilometer race, his time was 64 minutes. In April 1990, he represented Zhejiang in the 23.7-kilometer race of the Sixth Japan Sakura Mountain Marathon and finished 16th with a time of 1 hour and 23 minutes. In 1989, he participated in the Haikou International Marathon. Although he had stopped training for 2 months due to injury and the temperature of the race that day was as high as 30 degrees Celsius, Wei Yuxiang still insisted on completing the race with a score of 2 hours and 49 minutes. He still remembers that the champion of that competition was Zhang Guowei, with a time of 2 hours and 24 minutes.

Runners will receive their competition equipment at the Sports Expo and learn about the relevant information of the marathon in advance.

From the time he got married at the end of 1990 to the end of 2018, Wei Yuxiang basically gave up running. He began to resume training in October 2018 and has "broken three" in the marathon six times in the past five years. He was among the 2,402 people who competed in the Beijing Marathon this year, with a time of 2 hours, 56 minutes and 26 seconds. Among the 23,395 people in Northern Malaysia, Wei Yuxiang ranked 1,415th and 7th among 679 people in the age group.

Wei Yuxiang regards the Beijing Marathon and Shangma Marathon as the two most important marathons this year. Regarding his first marathon, Wei Yuxiang said: "In preparation for the marathon, I made the necessary preparations. To run a marathon, you need to practice intervals, anaerobic, and mixed oxygen. The ultimate goal is to improve your specific aerobic capacity." He participated in last week's marathon The Jiande Marathon and Half Marathon was held, and the competition was used as training. The goal was to "break three" this week.

On the horse racing track, there are more and more female athletes.

Zhao Qian, 34 years old, is from Yunnan. In 2007, she was admitted to the Journalism Department of Shanghai Sport University. After graduating from her undergraduate degree, she worked for sports brand companies such as Decathlon and Nike. Zhao Qian later returned to Yunnan to participate in the organization of marathons and cross-country races, and met her current husband Shen Jiasheng. As Shen Jiasheng's performance in cross-country running improved, he needed more support in training, competition and life support, so Zhao Qian turned to work as a sports agent.

At 7 o'clock in the morning on November 27, 2022, the 2022 Shanghai Marathon started at Jinniu Plaza on the Bund.

Zhao Qian believes that the past 10 years have been the "golden decade" for the development of running in China. In the past two years, Zhao Qian and her family have spent most of their time training and competing abroad every year. This year, their family of three has traveled all over Europe, America, and Asia, participating in many international high-level cross-country events.

Although the pace of training and competition is very tight, Zhao Qian still finds time to run and exercise. Running is not just work, it has also been integrated into her life. Her current goal is to get more people to understand and participate in running and cross-country racing, while helping Chinese cross-country runners continue to improve their performance.

More and more female runners are participating in marathons.

This year is Zhao Qian’s fourth time participating in the horse racing competition. Having worked and lived in Shanghai for 10 years, she is full of affection for Shanghai. Her first half marathon was completed in 2013, so she has a soft spot for horses. Zhao Qian has been in Shanghai these days, communicating with colleagues in the industry who have worked hard in this hot land, and imagining the future of running in China.

Most of the runners participating in the race are ordinary running enthusiasts. It is these ordinary people who paint the beautiful landscape of the current marathon.

Elite runners are the pinnacle of the marathon, and more amateurs are the solid foundation of the pyramid.

Teacher Yu Junbei from Shanghai University participated in the marathon for the third time this year. The first two times he ran the half-marathon, this time he "downgraded" to participate in fitness running. Teacher Yu originally wanted to challenge the marathon, but he didn’t want to waste the “reserved” spot for the fitness run.

Teacher Yu’s participation in the horse racing this time is not just about participating in the competition himself. By studying the route to get on the horse, he prepared to cheer for his fellow runners at the 33-kilometer mark after he finished the race. The considerate Professor Yu received the competition equipment early. He said, "This way, we can not only see the Shanghai Sports Expo early, but also shift the peak hours and leave the Saturday period for out-of-town runners."

Yu Junbei originally ran just to lose weight. After a few years, this "small goal" has been successfully achieved. He also discovered that running has other functions, especially the combination of culture and sports. He participated in the launch of the alumni fun running group at the School of Management of Shanghai University. He was surrounded by more than 40 teachers and alumni from Shanghai University. They often participated in running activities together in the "free shipping area" of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

Many players participate in the competition because of their deep identification with the city and its culture.

Being from Ningbo, he also mobilized a group of entrepreneurs in Shanghai who are closely related to his hometown in Ningbo to train and compete together. In recent years, Yu Junbei has organized running, cross-country races and other activities in his hometown of Tangxi, Ningbo. He has invited Shanghai runners and hometown celebrities Tong Dizhou, Ningbo Xiaoshi, Fudan University, Tongji University and other alumni who studied and worked there to participate, to promote his hometown and help Rural revitalization.

Since the second half of last year, Chinese men's half-marathon and full-marathon records have been refreshed successively; male runners also won the first Asian Games marathon gold medal. At the same time, domestic amateur athletes have become the main force in marathon events, which is a microcosm of the vigorous development of marathon sports.

The development of marathon sports at the mass level not only creates a good atmosphere for participation, but also lays a solid foundation for the development of marathon sports. The Shanghai Marathon provides a stage for elite runners and ordinary runners to compete on the same field.

Chen Guoqiang, male, associate professor at Shanghai Sport University, master's tutor, Ph.D. in journalism and communication. Member of the Press Committee of the Chinese Athletics Association.