The 2026 Wuxi Marathon was an adrenaline-pumping race — not just because of Mao Jinhu and Li Meizhen. If you open the top-20 lists for men and women you’ll find many more athletes to watch, and this course may well produce more records in the future. The men’s top ten all went under 2:10, with Chinese athletes occupying six places. Mao Jinhu, Suolang Cairen, Yang Kegu, Hong Yue and Zhaxi Ciren all achieved that milestone for the first time. Chen Yujin, Yang Xiaohua and Xie Yunce also seem not far from 2:10, while Gao Peng, Jia Erenjia and the president, who is still tuning his form, remain the backbone — we also look forward to Yang Shaohui’s comeback. There were even more fresh faces on the women’s side: Li Meizhen jumped to become the second-fastest active runner, Ding Changqin PB’d again, Ma Xiuzhen brought her track speed to the marathon, and Zhang Shanshan and Tong Laga are newly minted Chinese women to go sub-2:30. The Wuxi Marathon always delivers surprises!