Trail running is widely recognized as one of the hardest sports to broadcast. The Golden League’s “short‑distance + high‑competition” format pushes that difficulty to hellish levels — and the Jinshanling Great Wall pushes it even further.

The Wall’s ma‑dao is paved with stones of irregular sizes, and at intervals there are transverse drainage bricks crossing the surface placed with no regular pattern. Follow‑cam photographer Zeng Genwang remembers vividly: “By the time you’ve descended the steps you’re exhausted; when you try to pick up speed on a flat stretch you hit a transverse drainage brick after two or three strides, and the whole rhythm is thrown off.”

The course also includes several sections with brutal climbs and steep drops, some of which require using both hands and feet.This year’s added uphill sprint and downhill sprint sections further raised the race’s suspense and head‑to‑head intensity.

As the broadcast coordinator, Yahei admits the race was far more complex than routine events: “Many domestic race organizers are still blank on the concept of livestreaming and need us to lead. But the Golden League is different — it has its own mature system.We not only have to satisfy the organizers and the brands, but also have to satisfythe Golden League management team’s high demands. It’s a multidimensional game of competing requirements.”

AndSalomon, as the brand, also has clear requirements for the livestream: to truly make trail running “break out,” to make it understandable and engaging for more people, and to maximize the sport’s competitive appeal.。

Image source: Salomon

Short distance means athletes are extremely fast and outcomes are often decided within tens of seconds. Lead director Li Liang feels this acutely: “When we did our first trail livestream last year we were always worried we’d ‘fall behind.’ This year, although our camera strategy upgraded from ‘ensure we can keep up’ to ‘follow selectively,’ Golden League athletes are just too fast. Especially on the high‑difficulty sections of the Wall, guaranteeing follow shots for the footage still faces enormous challenges.”

And to present the race better, the broadcast team started testing months in advance. Yahei revealed: “We tested almost the entire route just to map the signal blind spots. Jinshanling’s towers shield the signal — every time you go into a tower it stutters. We can only mask those dropouts by covering them with preceding and following storylines so the audience doesn’t notice.”

In this grueling broadcast battle, one group's hardship is the easiest to overlook: the follow-cam photographers. They are “another set of elite competitors carrying the gear.”

Yahei revealed the livestream’s “luxury setup” to us: “This is probably the most luxurious configuration China’s trail running has ever seen. For only a 20-kilometer course we deployed 16 follow-cam photographers — the same scale as the Chaigu 105 km race.”

Zeng Jiao on follow-cam,Photo credit: Salomon

One of them was Fenglei live-stream runner and fitness coach Zeng Genwang (Zeng Jiao), ITRA performance score 797. “There’s a signal receiver in our pack that weighs about 6 斤 (≈3 kg) — a solid block that shakes a lot. Add an action camera, chargers and water, and the total load approaches 10 斤 (≈5 kg).” Zeng admitted this is much harder to run with than a normal trail pack because the weight is highly concentrated and swings a great deal while running.

To cope with that extreme strain, Zeng prepared for months like an athlete: “I trained intervals and specifically worked on stairs. Only after the body adapts to high intensity can I relax, open up, and keep the camera steady when I’m on course facing the elites’ high speeds.”

In extreme fatigue he distilled his own muscle-control rules: “Keep the core stable, but relax the shoulders and wrists. When shooting head-on I leave at least five body lengths; on dangerous sections I never position myself in front of runners and prefer side follow-cam. Only from the side can you show how steep the Great Wall course is.”

Shi Jianghong on follow-cam,Photo credit: Salomon

This year the team also gained a special reinforcement: Shi Aiai’s brother, Shi Jianghong. The original plan was to invite Shi Aiai herself — she agreed readily and even offered to bring her two brothers, Shi Jiangyi and Shi Jianghong. Although not everyone could make it in the end, Shi Jianghong’s addition injected a shot in the arm for the follow-cam crew.

Shi Jianghong completed his filming duties on the course with a high level of professionalism. Yet the Great Wall course’s danger is impartial. During the race he fell while high-speed following, cutting and injuring his arm, but he gritted his teeth and finished the subsequent filming.

When viewers cheer the elites crossing the line, few know that those steady, smooth follow-cam shots were carved out inch by inch by photographers’ flesh and blood on the rugged Great Wall steps.

Because of these behind-the-scenes heroes’ relentless grind, the Golden League broadcast delivered a unique “sensory revolution” to viewers.As Zeng put it: “Trail running has so many variables, and the Golden League is full of plot twists. We want to present those key moments perfectly.”

In the control room, Li Liang and his team amplified that sensory impact through visual language. “‘Short distance + high competition’ means there’s no long tug-of-war, only immediate, decisive clashes,” Li Liang said. The broadcast cameras precisely captured athletes’ micro-expressions at the limit: pain, grit, despair and ecstasy.

And in data presentation, the team led by Yahei made major innovations.To convey the most professional competitive feel, the Golden League’s production staff was twice the size of a regular event.The heart-rate, pace and positional data on the screen change every minute. We have 4 production staff operating all the information on the screen. From this intuitive data, viewers can follow the whole race progression and feel the second-by-second intensity.

A 50-person team faces extremely complex coordination during a live broadcast. Li Liang revealed that for a two-and-a-half-hour race the team has to make 9 transfers for runner-mounted camera crews, camera operators, athletes' private aid, support teams and so on. "There's a huge amount of work in a very short time. Everyone is wound up like a clock; the instructions on the radios never stop."

Image source: Salomon

He admits the atmosphere in the director's room is always extremely tense: "When a great shot happens, the audience screams, but we remain very calm. Our first reaction is, 'I must present this even better.' An old director used to say live broadcasting is the art of regret. The great shots we capture are probably fewer than the great shots we lose. After the broadcast ends the emotions are complex—excited, but also regretful."

A race that was originally "difficult to present" has, through the behind-the-scenes crew's extraordinary focus and endurance, been turned into a visual feast that keeps viewers watching.

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You must understand trail running to tell trail running well.

The presentation of a high-quality live trail-race broadcast ultimately depends on the team's depth of understanding of the sport.

Ya Hei admitted that when the team switched from traditional media to trail-running livestreams, they initially questioned the watchability of long-distance trail races. "One person running alone in the mountains—what reason would make viewers watch from 5:30 a.m. until 11 or midnight, even when their phones get hot and they won't turn off the stream?" That question troubled the team for a long time.

But years of deep cultivation gave them the answer. "If you truly understand what a runner wants to see, what a race wants to convey, and what a champion can express, you can do it," Ya Hei said. That understanding also directly determines the fundamental difference between Golden League broadcasts and regular trail-race live streams.

"The Golden League's style is the most distinctive—purer competitive intensity, a more professional race presentation," Ya Hei explained, "For long-distance races we need to package every aspect, but on the Golden League course we are very focused: to bring the sense of competition and the live feel of the race to the audience."During the broadcast we ourselves feel like athletes in a short, high-speed event—we must be extremely focused and give it everything."

Golden League live broadcast teamBefore the race they study the course with the Golden League management team and discuss how best to present the desired effect. According to the Golden League management team's suggestions, the teamdeploys special camera positions at the real big climbs, big descents and sprint points to deeply portray the course's competitive feel.Because that'sthe most painful, most real place.

Image source: Salomon

Li Liang summed up this shift as trail-running livestreams crossing from the "1.0 era" to the "2.0 era." "In the 1.0 era we just made sure we could keep up—there was footage at all times. But in the 2.0 era, the core is storytelling."

He explained, "We referenced a large amount of live-broadcast experience from high-speed race disciplines like cycling, triathlon and mountain biking, introduced AI data modeling, and, based on course difficulty and terrain distribution, precisely simulated race rhythm and athlete condition. At the same time, we also listened toGreg, Golden League Sporting Directorsuggestion:Don't just focus on first and second place; explain positional relationships and tell a good story.”

To that end, the team developed a data-packaging system that lets them display any desired positional relationships. "For example, if I want to compare the race leader with the first Chinese runner, or show the relative positions between the men's and women's leaders, it can do that," Li Liang said. "We hope this kind of presentation gives viewers a clearer sense during the three-hour live broadcast: who is leading and who is chasing. In short, it's easier to follow."

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In closing

Fromthe "10 斤 iron block" Coach Zeng used to carry on the Great Wall steps,to what Yahei called Chinese trail running's 'most luxurious configuration,' and to what Li Liang calls the 'art of regret,' the Golden League's broadcast has long surpassed a simple live relay.

When we sit in front of the screen and smoothly watch elite athletes fiercely contest the Great Wall and cheer for their finishes, we should thank a group of trail-running "broadcast maniacs" who, with physical effort, technical skill and passion, have forged this visual feast along rugged ridgelines. They overcame countless unseen difficulties to present this ultimate sensory experience—full of dirt, sweat and Great Wall mountain wind—perfectly to the world.

Image credit: Salomon

But the origin of it all rests with Salomon.

To the Golden League, Salomon has never been just a sponsor. It is the event's founder, the pioneer of the Golden League's live-broadcast model, and a driving force behind the continuous rise in broadcasting standards. What Salomon has done is weave the organizers, broadcast team, management and athletes into a precise collaborative network, making the Golden League not merely a race but an evolving content ecosystem.

It is precisely this deep involvement as an organizer rather than a name sponsor that has brought trail running to a wider audience, raised the standard of Chinese trail race broadcasting to rival top-tier events, and allowed this extreme run on the Great Wall to leap off the screen and reach the hearts of everyone who loves the mountains.

A salute to all the behind-the-scenes heroes of the Golden League. And a salute to the name that built the stage, lit the beacon, and made it all possible.