Chinese Sports Organizations Bring Chinese Running Culture to 2017 Boston Marathon

News provided by

Beijing LAIPAO8 Urban Sports Culture & Broadcast Co. Ltd.

Apr 27, 2017, 06:00 ET

BOSTON, April 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier this month, many large-scale Chinese sports organizations gathered at the John Hancock Sport & Fitness Expo 2017 to showcase China's running culture to the world at booth 1901. Held from April 14-17, the Expo is the official number pick-up for the Boston Marathon. Companies at the show included the largest running service provider -- LAIPAO8; the most popular social sports APP in China -- Codoon (facebook: Runtopia); the largest online marathon registration platform -- Zuicool; and one of the biggest outbound travel agencies in China -- Utour.

Besides providing the professional running service, the four organizations also bring the Chinese unique events -- Shanghai Marathon and the Great Wall Marathon to the Expo, to name a few, who brought their race T-shirts and medals to runners, all of which appealed to runners from all around the world.

At the booth, many pairs of golden ceramic running shoes made exclusively for the Boston Marathon were arranged in a pattern to visualize the word "BOSTON" -- harmoniously blending Chinese and American culture. Mr. Chun Li, designer of these amazing shoes, received a warm welcome from Thomas S. Grilk, president of the Boston Athletic Association.

Some runners also prayed for a blessing by writing down their wishes with pieces of paper that were strung up by shoelaces which symbolizes bonding. After that, runners received lucky Chinese knots and postcards of the World Marathon Majors as souvenirs. These "blessing shoelaces" will join the ones from the other five World Marathon Majors as a connected shoelace that is expected to be the longest shoelace in the world under the Guinness World Records.

Through this Expo, LAIPAO8, Codoon, Zuicool and Utour have teamed up to create a running ecosystem that promotes the exchange of running culture between the East and the West. From basic services such as running stations and bath taking, mid-level services such as sports products and training camp, to high level services such as marathon registration, result searches, online marathons and traveling with the theme of marathons, the event has served as a platform for runners from China, the U.S. and the rest of the world to share their running experiences and celebrate this amazing opportunity to run.