Shanghai Marathon

The Shanghai Marathon was held on Nov 26. The weather was nice at around 15C and overcast. The route was primarily flat, passing through Shanghai CBD and on to the industrial areas. One bad thing about the route is that they were not totally closed for the race. There were vehicles running in the opposite direction, and since all the intersections were closed for the runners, the vehicles piled up on the opposite side of the road, emiting exhaust, making you feel like running in the middle of a downtown congestion. Otherwise the race was quite well organised, with lots of support from the spectators. All atheletes actually can get a certificate immediately after crossing the finishing line, with time and rank documented (wonder why it took some clubs up to 6 days to publish results ??). After all being said and done, I won't run Shanghai again due to the pollution.

Re: Shanghai Marathon

Hi, KSCA, are all FM finishers getting a pair of Mizuno shoes this time?

Re: Shanghai Marathon

We actually got quite a decent sports bag from Mizuno... valued at RMB 380, as they didn't take of the price tag (!). Completed my first full in 3.20, so pretty satisfied. The race was quite ok, although i agree on the polution. Running through Shanghai's industrial zones also didn't help. I still don't udnerstand why the race is not held in Pudong, where roads are less crowded, much wider and less polluted. Bad thing happened at the finish of the official race (saw on TV). The lead guy (Kenyan) made a sprint for the finish. The officals and police completely misjudged his pace, and they let through a car, which almost crashed into this poor guy. The guy had to swerve around the car, and lost his lead and the #1 spot (came in #2)... very bad...

Re: Shanghai Marathon

Hi Bernie 3:20 is a good time for a first time marathoner! Congratulations. Feel sorry for the leading runner. It must have caused him a lot of money (from #1 to #2) as well (specially this is their way of earning a living), and at the same time he should be glad that he was not hurt by the car. Life is so unpredictable.

Re: Shanghai Marathon

Bernie, Congratulations to ur good result blurmax

Re: Shanghai Marathon

thanks guys... was a good race and marathoning is fun! The next one will be Xiamen... might see more of you guys there! Good luck with running in Singapore, Taipei and where else. Will probably be in HK for the Unicef 15K next week.

Re: Shanghai Marathon

I also ran the SH marathon. I treated this as a training session as I did not practise adequately in the past months - I finished with 4:45. Enjoyed it very much as there were crowds of people cheering for us all along the roads. I was impressed by seeing lot of small groups of local runners of different age groups - not running fast yet running seriously and at the same time, enjoying the time with their friends. And surprisingly we got certificates on the same day ! Agreed that air pollution was a big problem to be solved. Overall speaking a well organized event in my opinion.

Re: Shanghai Marathon

AGREE! The pollution is serious! And the route is very choking! : |