The Shanghai Distance Running Association welcomes a new council at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center on June 18. [Photo/thepaper.cn]

The Shanghai Distance Running Association welcomed a new panel of council members at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center on June 18.

Chen Xiaohong, chairman of Donghao Lansheng Expo Group, was elected as the new president of the association.

During the meeting, Zhu Junwei, secretary general of the association, highlighted that the organization has increased the number of registered members from 2,000 to 11,000 in the past four years. Additionally, the total number of the association's annual running activities and competitions has nearly reached 30 and 10, respectively.

Since its inception in 2015, the association has been trying to expand its influence by creating new forms of membership services.

One of the association's main focuses is to encourage participation at local running competitions, including the Shanghai Marathon, the Shanghai Suzhou Creek Half Marathon, and the Shanghai Women's Half Marathon, which attracted nearly 50,000 runners in 2023.

This year, the association has help established training camps at multiple universities in Shanghai, including East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai International Studies University, East China Normal University, and Shanghai University. These camps include professional training and activities that encourage more college students to start running.

Chen said that they hope more enterprises and individuals will join their association in order to help contribute to the development of Shanghai's distance running events.

Source: thepaper.cn