At 7:30 on 8 November 2020 the Xi’an Marathon started at Yongning Gate, the south gate of the city wall.
More than 24,000 runners came to Xi’an ahead of the National Games. The new course showed the old city and the new one.
Hundreds of thousands of residents lined the course.
China Telecom opened an IPTV “Xi’an Marathon” channel for more than eight million viewers in Shaanxi. CCTV.com, People.cn and Xinhuanet carried a joint live stream, and Douyin and Kuaishou joined it.
Mei Zengbiao won the men’s half in 1:08:14 and Xia Yuyu the women’s half in 1:17:35. Yang Dinghong won the men’s marathon in 2:17:54 and Jin Mingming the women’s in 2:31:29.
123,800 people entered. The draw let about 24,000 start, an 18.18% acceptance rate. An online race was added for people who could not travel.
This fourth edition was one of the “Road to the National Games” marathons, and the first after the race earned a domestic gold label. The 14th National Games opened in Shaanxi on 15 September 2021, with Xi’an as a host city. The race was a rehearsal for that.
The TMK crew after the race.