2024 Beijing Tongzhou Canal Half Marathon Running Feast Opens

The 2024 Bank of Beijing Beijing Tongzhou Canal Half Marathon started at 7:30pm on 10th November at West Ziyun Road, Tongzhou District. The event was co-organised by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports, the People's Government of Tongzhou District of Beijing, and Beijing State-owned Assets Management Limited Liability Company, and hosted by the Beijing Tongzhou District Sports Bureau, Beijing Athletics Association, and Beijing Bei Ao Group Limited Liability Company, and was broadcast live on Beijing Radio and Television.

The picture shows the official start of the 2024 Beijing Tongzhou Canal Half Marathon.

Chen Jie, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports, Yang Shujian, President of Bank of Beijing Co., Ltd, Wang Yongjie, Standing Committee Member of Tongzhou District Committee and Executive Vice Mayor, Qin Tao, Vice Mayor of Tongzhou District, Zou Haitao, Vice Mayor of Tongzhou District, Yan Zhong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Beijing Municipal State-owned Assets Operation Limited Liability Company, Deng Xiaomin, Director of Tongzhou Sports Bureau, Zhao Gang, Chairman of Bei Ao Group, Liu Hui, General Manager of Bei Ao Group, and guests of the official sponsors attended the tournament ceremony.

The picture shows the official start of the 2024 Beijing Tongzhou Canal Half Marathon.

The 2024 Bank of Beijing Beijing Tongzhou Canal Half Marathon, as a World Athletics Federation (WAAF) certified standard event, starts at Ziyun West Road in Tongzhou District and finishes at Binhe Middle Road in Tongzhou District, covering a total distance of 21.0975 kilometres. It passes through landmarks such as the Grand Canal Forest Park, the Urban Green Heart Forest Park, the Moon Island Wenying Viewing Platform, the Cao Yun Dock, and the Yinfeng Autumn Park. Participants can not only enjoy the unique scenery of the canal, but also feel the profound accumulation of ancient and modern Tongzhou District.

The picture shows the official start of the 2024 Beijing Tongzhou Canal Half Marathon.

This year's half marathon was a grand event, with a total of 12,000 people qualifying for the race. They came from 15 countries and regions, including China, Germany, Britain, Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, Panama, Singapore, the United States, Thailand and Venezuela. The oldest participant was 70 years old and the youngest was 16 years old. The event is not only a sports competition, but also an exchange platform for cultural heritage. The participation of more than 30 running groups, including Beijing Physicians Running Group, Beijing Vice Center Running Group, Vice Center Police Running Group, Double Olympic Running Group, Beijing Marathon Association, Tsinghua Sijiu City Running Group, Peking University Boya Athletics Middle and Long Distance Running Team, Lenovo Running Association, Beijing Second Ring Special Training Team, CNKI Knowledge Network Running Group, BeiKeJun Running Group, and HeYaJun Blindness Help Group, not only raised the competitive level of the event, but also added a beautiful public service colour to the race track. It not only enhanced the competitive level of the race, but also added a beautiful public welfare colour to the course.

Pictured is Kenya's Mayaka Evans Nyakamaba who won the men's category in a time of 1 hour 05 minutes and 30 seconds.

Pictured is China's Liu Min who won the women's title with a time of 1 hour, 12 minutes and 56 seconds.

After a tense and fierce competition, Kenya's MAYAKA EVANS NYAKAMBA won the marathon men's champion with a time of 1 hour 5 minutes and 30 seconds, China's Liu Min won the marathon women's crown with a time of 1 hour 12 minutes and 56 seconds. When the time came to cross the line, the audience applauded and cheered, applauding the wonderful performance of the runners. After the race, Zhao Yiyang from Tsinghua University's Sijiu City Running Group said in an interview: ‘The experience of running the Tongzhou Half-Marathon is very good. I feel Tongzhou is getting more and more prosperous, and I hope to have more opportunities to run in Tongzhou in the future. The people who came to cheer were also very enthusiastic, and the rapid development of Beijing's urban sub-centre was evident throughout the race. Moreover, the organising committee has prepared very rich materials for the competition and finishers' bags, including hats, gloves, hot milk and pain relief tinctures, which are very suitable for the theme of “Winter Warmth Running”.’