At 10:00 on October 25, 2025, Shanghai Marathon officials announced that the 2025 Shanghai Marathon 'Fitness Run' event has been canceled, and charity entry registrations have also been canceled. The inaugural Shanghai Marathon was held in 1996, featuring four events: the full marathon, half marathon, 5 km and 2.5 km races — the short-distance events were the precursor to today's 'Fitness Run'. From 1997, the race officially established the 'Fitness Run' category. Apart from the temporary cancellation of the 'Fitness Run' from 2020 to 2022 due to the pandemic, the event has retained the full marathon only, and the full marathon has been held without interruption for 28 years; moreover, in 2024 the 'Fitness Run' reached a peak scale of 15,000 participants, and the 2025 'Fitness Run' had also been planned with a 15,000-participant quota. Since October there have been successive reports of many events across the country being adjusted or canceled.Most low-level races in districts and counties have been directly canceled, and some city- and provincial-level races have changed their event lineups, mainly canceling short-distance events such as "fun runs". Over the past two weeks, events such as the Linfen Half Marathon (Shanxi), Changzhi Marathon (Shanxi), Lixian Half Marathon (Hebei), and the Hengyang and Zhuzhou Marathons (Hunan) were directly canceled; the short-distance "fun run" and "health run" categories of races like the Hefei Marathon, Nanchang Marathon, and Hangzhou Marathon were canceled, but the half and full marathon events are being retained. But most race organizers have provided corresponding compensation policies: takethe Nanjing Marathon as an example; after announcingthe cancellation of the 'Mini Health Run' event, after which, in addition to refunding registration fees, the organizing committee will cover the cancellation fees for transportation and accommodation incurred by 'Health Run' participants due to the event cancellation. For 29 years, the Shanghai Marathon's 'fitness run' has witnessed the event’s journey from its beginnings to its heyday, and has accompanied generation after generation of runners in taking their first steps toward their dreams. Now, as it has been put on 'pause', and as races are adjusted, the 'fitness run' event seems to be quietly withdrawing from the public eye. Will the 'fitness run' become history forever? Or will it return to us one day in a new form? And what about charity runs — will they also come back after updating their formats? Text:xiaocai /Editor:xiaocai Image:Online/Visual:Five-Year Trainee
