Photo/Li Meili

The 2024 Liling Half Marathon kicked off on January 14, attracting more than 3,000 runners from across the country. As China's first marathon race themed "ceramics", the competition aimed to promote the integrated development of sports and tourism.

The running race is under the guidance of the Hunan Provincial Bureau of Sports, and supported by the Hunan Athletics Association, and organized by the People's Government of Liling City. The event features a half marathon, a 10-km health run, a 5-km happy run, and a half marathon team race. 

Photo/Li Meili

Five cultural tourism activities were held for the participants, including watching the show "Guocai Liling" free of charge, enjoying free admission to scenic spots, having the opportunity to savor fried rice noodles, choosing ceramic products for free, and booking a room at a 20% discount. There were also running assistance groups featuring Liling ceramics, Liling fireworks, Liling fried rice noodles, and Hanfu. Liling saw a boom in the cultural and tourism sector during the competition. The number of tourists visiting the Former Residence of Li Lisan, the Lujiang Acedemy, and other scenic spots increased significantly. The daily average number of visitor arrivals to the Liling Ceramics Museum stood at 12,500.

In the final results, Wang Peilin won the men's half marathon championship with a time of 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 7 seconds.  Huang Fei won the gold medal in the women's half marathon with a time of 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 31 seconds. Huang Dongsheng and Chen Hongyi won the first place in the men's and women's 10-km health run events respectively.

Photo/Li Meili

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn

Photo source: China National Radio