There Is No Finish Line
By Makoto Chino
With the Toray Shanghai Marathon just around the corner, the typical paths have become more congested. Not only have people flown in from around the world for this international marathon, but the popularity of jogging is also rapidly growing in China.
Jogging as a popular form of exercise is a relatively new concept. In 1962, Bill Bowerman brought the idea to America after a trip to New Zealand where he witnessed a club of people who just ran for sport. He ignited a jogging craze, and, two years later, he started the athletic footwear distribution company now known as Nike.
Looking to repeat the success of implanting jogging into American culture, Nike has turned to China. This year, the Fortune 500 brand teamed up with AKQA to create the ‘Run For’ advertising campaign. As Chinese runners streak past familiar local skylines, they describe their motivations for running – to get lost, to make the hidden visible, to escape the pressure of daily life. Coupled with Nike Lunar Runs held around the country in November, this constitutes the shoe brand’s grassroots attempt to tap into China’s potential runner population.
And it seems to be working. More than 10,000 people signed up for the Shanghai Lunar Run on 20 November. Beginning at the World Expo China Pavilion, the track stretched 10 kilometres to the Shanghai Oriental Sports Centre. Performances accompanied the event, promoting the idea that running is fun and good for your health.
Kyle Long, co-founder of UnTour Shanghai, a tour group that offers sightjogging and guided runs to tourists and local residents looking to keep fit, is aware of the hurdles that Nike needs to overcome in order to change the perception of and attitude toward running in China.
“There’s something to the group mentality in China. You can identify with a collective group, so basketball and other team sports are more popular,” says Long.
Running has also typically been viewed as punishment in Chinese culture, rather than a reward. Nike’s ad campaign is trying to turn those stereotypes on their head, often depicting running as a collegial group activity complete with high-fives and showing athletes who find the sport rewarding instead of grueling.
But even if Nike can overcome the negative connotations and societal norms to make jogging a popular pastime in China, the question of smog still remains. Most notably, Haile Gebrselassie, holder of the world record time for a marathon, pulled out of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, citing air pollution. But what are the effects on amateur joggers?
Long fields this question regularly from his potential guests. ”For people who are in shape, the benefits outweigh the risks. If you are an asthmatic with health issues, running in China might not be the best idea. But 90 per cent of the time, it is not an issue,” he says.
Myckel J Bodt of happy2run, a China-based website for runners, agrees. Being afflicted with asthma has not stopped him from running outside in China for the last six years. By sticking to parks and secluded compounds or running in the early morning, Bodt is able to avoid traffic, the primary contributor to air pollution.
Medical practitioners have weighed in as well, and the consensus seems to be that running does more good than harm. “Modern urban life and concerns over air quality in Shanghai may tempt us to remain indoors, but the cardiovascular benefits of exercise should encourage us to seek opportunities to get outdoors,” says Dr Tyrone G Bristol, Chief Medical Officer at Shanghai United Family Hospital.
But that advice doesn’t come unqualified. Dr Bristol recommends that people check the air quality index and limit outdoor activities on “smoggy” days. Runs scheduled early in the morning or late at night are also good ways to sidestep the air quality issues. As the doctor says, “With a little bit of common sense we should be able to enjoy some happy running!”
Taking into account the concerns about the air pollution, the 16th Annual Toray Shanghai Marathon has updated its path, avoiding the 1.8 kilometre Fuxing Tunnel, the location with the highest levels of contaminants and particulate matter. Gashaw Asfaw, the winner of the marathon three years running, has shaved minutes off his personal best on this course. And, with 18,000 participants signed up for this year’s marathon, it seems that jogging might actually be catching on in China.
