China News Service, Hangzhou, November 1 (Zhang Yuhuan) On November 1, the 2026 Hangzhou Marathon kicked off at the Huanglong Sports Center. About 30,000 runners stepped onto the track and spread out a flowing city scroll with their footsteps.
For a city, these 42.195 kilometers are more like a window. Every breath of the runners and every shout on the roadside conveys the most authentic appearance of this city to the outside world. The Hangzhou Marathon, founded in 1987, is one of the oldest marathon events in China. This year it was once again awarded the World Athletics Gold Label event and the Chinese Athletics Association Class A certification event. This year, when more than 30,000 runners once again crossed the West Lake, crossed the Qiantang, and rushed into the "Big Lotus", Hangzhou's landscape, civilization and vitality were also opened up one by one along with the running, for eyes from all over the world to peruse.
View the landscape through running and see the beauty of the blend of ancient and modern times
The route selection of a track often hides the aesthetics and confidence of a city. For the first time, this Hangzhou Marathon connects two world cultural heritage sites, the West Lake and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, on the same track. The thousand-year heritage of Wu and Yue, the elegant culture of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the tidal culture of the Qiantang River are stitched together into 42.195 kilometers.
Runners set out from the Huanglong Sports Center, passing by the scenery of the West Lake and the thousand-year-old waves of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, before crossing the river towards the "Big Lotus" of the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center. The cross-river section has a wide view, with high-speed rail, green trains, subways, cars, ships and running figures all in the same frame, forming a moving scene unique to Hangzhou. Ancient lakes and mountains and modern landmarks face each other in the same picture, and the millennium cultural context and the new urban appearance are seamlessly connected - this calmness of the past and the present is the unique urban temperament of Hangzhou.
Behind this temperament is Hangzhou’s awareness of cultural inheritance. The "Osmanthus Horse" IP that has lasted for many years has been upgraded to the "嚞gui" cultural theme this year, and the fragrance of osmanthus is overflowing at the finish line; "Ten Scenic Spots of Hangzhou Horse" and music gas stations have been upgraded along the track. 28 running groups have created more than 50 atmosphere points, and song and dance and intangible cultural heritage interactions are spread along the road. Culture is no longer a static display, but is incorporated into the running experience, allowing runners from afar to complete an immersive cultural tour with their feet. From track selection to cultural operations, the Hangzhou Marathon conveys Hangzhou’s methodology for protecting the cultural context and making the cultural context “alive”.
Take a running view of security and see the concentric temperature of the whole city
Whether an event with tens of thousands of people can be successful depends not only on the scenery of the track, but also on the city's governance capabilities and civilized background. The marathon is the most honest touchstone - before and after the event, how a city organizes, coordinates, and treats guests from afar will be magnified and presented.
Safety is the constant bottom line of the Hangzhou Marathon. The medical security of this event has been upgraded: the medical stations on high-risk sections have been upgraded from "1 doctor and 1 nurse" to "1 doctor and 2 nurses". Elderly runners are arranged to have one-to-one first aid runners accompany them. AED-equipped drones are used for air-ground linkage rescue for the first time. They work with fixed medical stations, first aid runners and medical observers to form a dense life-guarding network covering the entire track. The police and doctors work together to protect the lives of ordinary runners.
Countless forces, both inside and outside the track, work together to support this event. Public security and traffic police, health personnel, sanitation workers, and college volunteers each performed their duties. Communities along the route, running groups, and citizens spontaneously formed cheering camps to send encouragement to every point. The event also continued the heart-warming tradition by holding a collective birthday party for the 138 runners whose birthdays were on the day of the race. Free subway, sufficient supplies, attentive services, professional rehabilitation after the game... Behind these details is Hangzhou's governance logic of putting "people first" into practice.
A marathon measures the quality of a city's civilization. When the city is willing to consider stranger runners, is willing to tolerate the temporary inconvenience caused by large-scale events, and is willing to spontaneously shout for strangers on the track, Hangzhou's open, friendly, and orderly city temperament will naturally be revealed in the details.
Observe technology through Benmo and see the new aspects of digital empowerment
Hangzhou is a highland of digital economy, and this innovative gene has also been injected into the entire Hangzhou Marathon. NFC smart medals were used for the first time in this event, and the intelligent traffic control robot "Hangxing No. 2" was put into use in the marathon for the first time. Together with "Hangxing No. 1", it was stationed at key points such as broken bridges and subway entrances, and was responsible for maintaining order and guiding runners. From air-ground collaborative smart rescue to robot-assisted traffic control, technology has become the underlying support for optimizing safety, improving services, and reshaping experience.
Looking back at previous Hangzhou Marathons, technological elements have always kept pace with the times: from smart bracelets to digital services, from big data scheduling to smart rescue, each event is exploring new possibilities of "sports + digital intelligence". When traditional marathon meets digital means, the organization method, service form, and communication path of the event continue to be refreshed, which also simultaneously refreshes the outside world's understanding of the city. This is a microcosm of Hangzhou: it has the calmness and calmness of a thousand-year history, but also the surging vitality of embracing new technologies and continuous iteration. A marathon fully presents the ancient and young sides of this city to the world.
The event ended and the results were finalized, but the urban narrative brought about by running continues. The Hangzhou Marathon packages landscape, goodwill and innovation on the same track and delivers it to every runner; what the runners take away is the glory of finishing the race and the memory of the city, and what is left to the city is the enthusiasm for national fitness and the attitude of upward growth. From national fitness to the integration of culture, sports and tourism, from city branding to spiritual cohesion, a marathon promotes the continuous improvement of the city's comprehensive strength. Through this run, more people have understood Hangzhou: it has the elegance of Jiangnan for thousands of years, the warmth of a modern city, and the momentum for the future. Even if it keeps running, the city’s upward progress will not stop.
