Athletes run in the 2019 Guiyang International Marathon in Guiyang. [Photo/colorful Guizhou network]

The 2023 Guiyang International Marathon will kick off on June 10 both online and in-person. This marks the first time in four years that it will be held in-person. 

Since its start in 2014, the Guiyang International Marathon has successfully been held in-person six times and online twice, during the COVID-19 epidemic, becoming an important way to showcase the city's beauty and culture.

The first Guiyang International Marathon was held on June 29, 2014, a rainy day, also the first online marathon in the country. Around 13,200 athletes and runners from home and abroad participated in the in-person competition, while runners from 10 cities participated in the online competition, running at the same time.

That year's marathon was rated as a bronze competition by the Chinese Athletic Association. Since then, it has been improving its schedule and services.

The 2015 Guiyang Marathon was called the coolest summer marathon in the Northern Hemisphere, as the day’s real-time temperature was only 14 degrees Celsius, which also helped many runners set personal records.

Kibet Luke, a Kenyan runner, runs in the 2016 Guiyang Marathon. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

2016 marked the first marathon in the country in which all tracks had full wireless network coverage with no blind spots and real-time air environment quality monitoring was introduced. 

It was also the year the marathon was upgraded to silver.

In 2017, the fourth Guiyang marathon saw the most participants on record, reaching over 11,000 people, an increase of more than 3,000 people from the previous year and twice as many as in 2014.

On July 22, 2018, the fifth Guiyang marathon kicked off, featuring not only over 25,000 runners from 17 countries and regions, but also new technologies and robot volunteers. Big data boosted the overall quality of the marathon and helped it become a gold competition.

The following 2019 Guiyang marathon was notable for its cross-district tracks, which started in Guanshanhu district, crossed through two districts and via multiple ecological parks, fully showcasing the city's environment.

From 2014 to 2023, the number of participants surged from 13,200 to over 50,000, a record high. This is largely due to Guiyang's ideal climate and high-quality services. Moving forward, Guiyang will continue to improve the competition and leverage it to showcase the city's charm.