The race displays Hainan’s broader effort to hyperlink worldwide sporting occasions with financial improvement and international engagement
SANYA, China, Jan. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The seventh Hainan (Sanya) Marathon wrapped up on Sunday, attracting 14,000 members from 20 nations and areas. Held below the theme “Run Previous Your Limits. Straight to the Sea,” the occasion mixed tropical coastal surroundings with aggressive racing by various race codecs, enhanced companies, and digital innovation. After a grueling race, China’s Yang Yuan received the ladies’s full marathon in 2:50:11, whereas Zhao Guohu claimed the lads’s title in 2:23:21.
Zhao Guohu, winner of the lads’s division, mentioned the flat course and Sanya’s heat local weather lend themselves to sturdy performances. He added that the vitality and assist of spectators and volunteers alongside the route helped create an particularly memorable ambiance.
To ship a singular marathon expertise in Sanya by the combination of sports activities, tourism, and tradition, organizers reimagined the function of the help stations. Cultural Tourism Expertise Stations had been positioned alongside the course. Along with offering race assist, the stations featured conventional crafts and folks arts, Li and Miao ethnic tune and dance performances, tastings of native delicacies, and interactive culture-focused actions. Collectively, these components supplied runners a more in-depth have a look at Sanya’s native character whereas including cultural context and on-course engagement to the occasion.
In parallel, organizers offered runners with coordinated companies overlaying lodging, transportation, sightseeing, and procuring. Associate advantages included discounted resort charges with late checkout, lowered airfare affords, and duty-free procuring perks. Digital initiatives included the issuance of blockchain-based digital commemorative medals, accessible for buy by the Alipay platform. Digital races hosted on Alipay, DingTalk, and Amap additionally enabled distant participation.
Yang Yong, Normal Supervisor of Occasions and Commercialization at occasion associate Orange Lion Sports activities (previously Alibaba Sports activities), mentioned organizers drew on sources throughout the Alibaba ecosystem – together with Taobao, Fliggy, Alibaba Well being, Ant Chain, and Amap – to broaden the occasion’s attain and join extra successfully with home and worldwide working audiences, encouraging better participation in event-related spending.
Since early 2024, Hainan has hosted over 700 sporting occasions, attracting greater than 4 million spectators and producing over 7 billion yuan in shopper spending. With its favorable local weather and pure setting, the Sanya Marathon continues to drive native financial system by sport-tourism integration.
