The upcoming 2025 Shanghai Marathon has added a “Pre-Qualified” zone to this year's starting corrals. This group is specifically for athletes aiming to qualify as Domestic Elite (men 2:19:20, women 2:39:20) and International Elite (men 2:12:50, women 2:33:20).

For institutional athletes, elite runners and enthusiasts aiming to hit qualifying standards, this is very good news — it used to be extremely hard to find a race like this. So once registration opened, reportedly nearly 200 runners signed up. After all, you don't have to get up especially early to line up at the very front of Corral A.

To start in the front rows, besides having sufficient ability, you must of course accept more complex procedures and arrangements. All pre-qualified athletes are required to attend the pre-race technical briefing on (November 29), and on race day they must have their identity verified and check in within the designated area and times.

One more very important point, athletes who enter the pre-qualified athletes' assembly area will be subject to doping tests after finishing the race. That's right — even if an athlete doesn't finish in the top ten, they may still be selected for testing. The Shanghai Marathon course should be a clean field; non-professional runners are not exempt from the rules.

Race-day procedure for pre-qualification athletes: security check → bag drop → identity verification (including clothing and shoes) → check-in →

finish the race → post-race inspection (including clothing and shoes) → results confirmation → bag pick-up → doping test.