Best in show: Half marathon winners walk away with a prize cow
People enter races for all kinds of reasons – to shoot for a PB, to raise money for charity, to run further than they’ve ever run before, or, perhaps, to challenge themselves to achieve something they never thought possible. But, if the thought of winning a race is your greatest motivation, then the first-place award on offer at the Nong’an Taipingchi Ice and Snow Half Marathon in China might have got you moving – or, should we say, moo-ving.
The organisers of the half marathon, which took place on 29 December 2024 in China’s northeastern Jilin province, announced an unusual suite of prizes for the runners who came best in show at the 13.1-mile race. The men’s and women’s race winners were each promised a cow, while second-place finishers received wild fish from Taiping Pond. Other top-ranking runners were presented with geese, ducks and roosters, or 10kg of rice and wheat.
In fact, the top 50 finishers in each category were awarded either livestock or produce as part of their race winnings.
The half marathon was held in a region that serves as one of China’s major agricultural producers and the unique prizes were added to promote local fare and attract more participants. Even so, the race organisers said that the champions could still exchange their bovine prizes for 6,000 Yuan (around £660) each if they preferred a cash sum.
‘Grand prizes are coming, and the champions are so proud. The organising committee is full of sincerity,’ wrote the race organisers in a WeChat post, which was widely circulated on Chinese social media platforms and became one of the hottest trending topics on Weibo.
Although this race has attracted attention for its atypical awards, running – especially marathon running – is anything but unusual in China. Thanks to a recent running boom in the country, major cities through to small counties with just a few thousand citizens are now organising and expanding all kinds of running events.
According to the Chinese Athletics Association, China hosted 622 marathons and half marathons in 2023, with events occurring, on average, at a rate of nearly two per. More recently, the Xinhua news agency reported that more than 30 marathons and other road running events were held across China from 2-3 November 2024 alone, drawing approximately 400,000 participants in total.
What’s more, the Shanghai Marathon is now a candidate race for the coveted Abbott World Marathon Majors (AWMM) series, alongside the Cape Town Marathon. If, like the Sydney Marathon, the Shanghai Marathon succeeds in becoming a new AWMM race, China would truly make its mark on the international running map.
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