This is another marathon blog penned by Geoffrey. Please contact me if you are interested in knowing more about anything related to this Marathon event.
Over to Geoffrey …
Shanghai ’25 was an Abbott Candidate Race which meant that the event is vying to be added as the 9th World Marathon Major in a few years. If the organisers wanted to put on a truly quality event they didn’t disappoint…
There were around 360,000 ballot applications for the 23,000 field so I felt lucky to have scored one of the spots! The event’s ‘Run Beyond Borders’ slogan highlights its goal to attract international participants so perhaps this increased my ballot odds.
For a big city marathon (Shanghai’s population is 5x the size of New Zealand!) the event experience was near impeccable. The race expo/bib pickup was near queue-free and crowd flow and security were excellent. The expo was huge and comparable in size with any of the other Major expos. There was no shortage of volunteers although few English speaking.
Race day weather was perfect – a clear, cool windless morning for the 7am early start. There’s been increasing interest in running in China in recent years and it really showed. I started in the last wave with the slower runners but even at the back, the field appeared overwhelmingly local, young and enthusiastic. The run starts in the famous Bund and the course passes several iconic Shanghai historic and modern landmarks, Nanjing Rd, People’s Square, and a long out and back alongside the Huangpu River. It finishes at the hugely impressive Shanghai Football Stadium. It’s a fast, flat course with just one long bridge crossing at 27km with a 10m ascent s o it’s a great course if you’re after a fast time.
Aid stations were well spaced, organised and well stocked supported with loads of volunteers. Crowd support is comparatively sparce compared to other big city majors. The finish line experience was exceptional with quality SWAG (Stuff We All Get) and a further mini-expo experience from the mayor sponsors. Again – the crowd control and security were first-class.
My run itself went very well. As I was near the back it was a bit congested for the first few kilometres and this cost me a few minutes (something I’m less concerned about these days). It also grew increasingly warm quicky (start was around 13 degrees and I finished near 20 degrees) so I made sure I that stayed well hydrated throughout. My goal time was 4hrs 17min with a small negative split and I achieved both of these. It was also my best result for the year so overall I was very pleased with the run and so was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the itinerary in China. If you don’t speak Chinese, Shanghai (or any other marathon in China) requires a lot of planning. There is limited support for English as most information is found on Chinese social media. The official website is updated infrequently and there is no or limited Google, Facebook, YouTube channels. I’m sure this is likely to improve as Shanghai nears its Major status but for a non-Chinese speaking runner wanting to do this event independently you need to do your homework. The good news is that it is all 100% doable and the rewards of a exceptionally organised event will make it totally worth the effort.
