“Run in Jing’an, Dream in Daning”. The Organizing Committee of the Daning Function Zone 2025 Shanghai Jing’an Half Marathon (hereinafter referred to as the “Half Marathon”) held a grand press conference on the afternoon of March 7.
The Half Marathon commenced at 7:00 a.m. on March 16 at the North Gate of Daning Park. Since its inception in 2018, the event has consistently expanded in scale and elevated in quality, establishing itself as a signature urban marathon IP in Jing’an District. This year’s event was hosted by the Shanghai Jing’an District Bureau of Sports and Daning Function Zone Management Committee, organized by the Jing’an District Sports Federation and Shanghai Daning Asset Management Co., Ltd., and operated by Shanghai KYEAH Health Technology Co., Ltd. As the flagship event of Daning Function Zone’s “Flower Festival”, the Half Marathon seamlessly integrated the elements of the festival, offering runners a meticulously crafted course brimming with springtime romance. Runners dashed through vibrant seas of blossoms, where the exhilaration of the race harmonizes with the enchanting fusion of nature and urban culture.
Guided by the “runners-first” philosophy, this year’s event focused on three key areas: safety assurance, quality enhancement, and culture-tourism-commerce-sports-exhibition integration to provide runners with an enhanced racing experience.
Comprehensive safety measures for an uninterrupted “traditional Chinese culture blossom course” experience. The course largely followed the 2024 classic route, radiating from Daning Park through the Daning Function Zone. The organizers meticulously arranged for nine aid stations, 16 medical points, 10 ambulances, 100 rescue team members, 30 AEDs, over 500 security personnel, and nearly 1,000 volunteers, creating a comprehensive and multi-layered event support system to ensure the safety of every runner. Runners passed through the Wanrong Road Tunnel, a main road connecting northern and southern Jing’an, and visited high-quality commercial complexes in the Daning Function Zone, including Daning Music Plaza, Daning Center, and Daning Business Center. They also traversed Lingshi Road, known as the “E-Sports Center of the Universe”, crossed through Pengpu Town, one of the first areas in Shanghai to earn the title of “Model Sub-district and Town for National Sports and Fitness”, and explored “Baiyiqiao Village”, where Mao Zedong had inscribed the words, fully immersing themselves in the rich cultural heritage, vibrant local customs, and the unique and dynamic atmosphere of urban-rural integration and life-work symbiosis.
Notably, in Daning Park, the largest park in the central urban area of Puxi, the 5-kilometer “Digital Track” was awarded one of the Top 10 Recreational and Fitness Trails in the Yangtze River Delta at the end of 2024. The track is equipped with interactive digital terminals and AI data collectors, which can display real-time data such as runners’ distances, calorie consumption, step counts, and pace, and generate leaderboards to encourage friendly competition among runners. As part of the course, the track integrated the newly launched “Flower Festival” theme from the Daning Function Zone, combining rich scenario elements like spring blossoms, traditional Chinese culture, and fitness activities to create an appealing “Most Beautiful 5 Kilometers”.
Yangtze River Delta resources linkage for enhanced service quality. The event actively responds to the national strategy of integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, promoting cross-regional exchange and collaboration in sports-related resources and elements. To motivate runners to challenge themselves, the event introduced direct qualification benefits: male half-marathon runners who finish in 1 hour 30 minutes and female half-marathon runners who finish in 1 hour 50 minutes could qualify for entry into events organized by the Jing’an District Athletics Association, KYEAH, and Suao Sports in the Yangtze River Delta (Runners can choose any event in a year of qualification).
The 2025 Jing’an Half Marathon finisher medal features a unique design adorned with flowers and a sliding mechanism, symbolizing athletes blossoming together with Shanghai, Jing’an, and Daning for a bright future. The finish line also offered free laser engraving services to personalize each medal with the runner’s finishing time, creating a unique commemorative keepsake for every runner.
The event champions the concept, “Green Running for Environmental Protection”, partnering with the brand Aihuishou to pioneer eco-friendly marathons. Smart recycling machines at the start and finish areas let runners exchange recyclables for premium gifts. Runners also received eye-catching, eco-friendly finisher bags made from recycled materials — a playful yet meaningful statement. During bag collection, the event offered runners a “T-shirt swap” program — trade in old running shirts for new ones. This sustainability initiative supports charitable causes while boosting the event’s eco-friendly credentials.
Deep integration of culture, tourism, commerce, sports, and exhibition for a “one-stop” consumption loop. This event is a key activity of the “Enjoy Shanghai, Enjoy Jing’an” 2025 Consumption Year. The Organizing Committee ensured a comprehensive range of race supplies while actively expanding cultural, tourism, commerce, sports, and exhibition resources. This created new interactive opportunities for runners and brands, providing runners with a richer and more diverse racing and shopping experience in Jing’an, thereby establishing a “one-stop” consumption loop.
Statistics showed that over 60% of runners traveled from other provinces for this event. To accommodate them, the Organizing Committee partnered with hotels near the Daning Function Zone to offer special accommodation packages. It also collaborated with over 500 merchants across four major shopping centers, including Shanghai Jiuguang Center, Daning Life Hub, Jing’an Imix Park, and Daning Music Plaza, providing exclusive benefits, including shopping discounts, parking fee reductions, gift redemptions, and special gift bundles for runners. Besides, sports-themed markets and brand roadshows were held along the course and at the finish area. The event also provided partner merchants with guaranteed entries for the Jing’an Half Marathon series races, rewarding consumers who meet specified spending thresholds. This initiative effectively enhanced runners’ “travel with the race” experience and value.
At the press conference, the Organizing Committee presented honorary certificates to representatives of premium partners, including Shanghai Daning Asset Management (Group), Medtronic, PepsiCo’s Gatorade, Mengniu’s Shiny Meadow, Kelme, KunShengJianXing Sports Service, CPT, GRIN, Uniskin, China Merchants Bank, Meili Chufang, Ichimore, Wolai Nuts, Kuntai Laser, Aihuishou, Snow Beer Yongchuangtianya, and SF Express.
Ma Jiabin, Secretary of the Leading Party Members Group and Director of the Jing’an District Bureau of Sports in Shanghai, Mao Lipeng, head of the Jing’an Daning Function Zone and Party Secretary and Chairman of Shanghai Daning Asset Management Co., Ltd., along with representatives from the media and event brand partners, attended the press conference.