At 7:30 of March 30, the north gate of Yancheng Olympic Sports Center Stadium bustled with energy as the 2025 Yueda Kia Yancheng Marathon & Grand Canal Marathons (Yancheng) began. Over 20,000 runners from around the world, united by their love for sports, sprinted along a course blending urban vibrancy and ecological charm. Zhou Bin, Secretary of the CPC Yancheng Municipal Committee, Wang Rong, Director of the Standing Committee of Yancheng Municipal People’s Congress and Yang Weida, Chairman of CPPCC Yancheng Municipal Committee, officiated the event.
With the theme “Continuing the Red Legacy, Carrying Forward a Green Future” the marathon featured three races: full marathon, half marathon, and mini fitness run. Starting at the Olympic Sports Center, participants traversed major thoroughfares like Jiefang Road, passing iconic red landmarks such as the Bronze Horse Statue (Datongma) and the New Fourth Army Memorial Hall. The route also included Yanzhen Water Street, Julong Lake Park, and China Begonia Garden, before concluding at the stadium. The flat, wide course not only offered runners an ideal platform to showcase their endurance but also immersed them in Yancheng’s rich heritage as a revolutionary base and its breathtaking landscapes as an “International Wetland, Coastal Green City” Participants experienced the harmonious fusion of the city’s “four-color culture”—red legacy, white sea salt, green wetlands, and blue ocean.
