Looking back at 2025, when the HOKA Flyrun Carnival concluded in Ningbo, the event had by then rooted itself in East China for three consecutive years—growing from Shanghai to Anji, Zhejiang and Ningbo—and had long beenone of the brand's most representative homegrown events in ChinaIP .。HOKA chose this year to bring the Flyrun Carnival to Emei Mountain in Sichuan—its first time landing in the southwest. Moving from deepening roots in East China to laying out nationwide, the core goal of the Flyrun Carnival is,to build a trail scene where diverse cultures intersect, with "runners at the center."However, the choice to base the event in Chengdu this time actually conceals a key upgrade in the brand's China-market strategy.
A trail event
"Cultural elements" will define the on-site experience
The 2026 Flyrun Carnival left its three-year run in East China and, confronting Sichuan's mountain terrain, runner composition and cultural context, moved for the first time from the familiar East to the southwest, landing at Emei Mountain.
The southwest region is a crucial part of China's trail-running map and a key market in the brand's strategy. HOKA continues to deepen its engagement in the southwest, steadily increasing investment and taking concrete actions to fulfill its commitments there.
Following the 2025 refresh of its brand-customized concept store at Chengdu Taikoo Li, the opening of the "Urban-Wild Passage" pop-up space, promotion of the "Running TCM" community activities and a series of other initiatives, FLYRUN 4.0 called on over 2,000 runners to gather at Emei Mountain.
HOKA's overall approach provides clear proof of the brand's emphasis on the southwest market.
Looking back at the first three Flyrun Carnivals, locations were concentrated in East China—Shanghai and Zhejiang—aiming to bring trail runners nationwide an annual, once-in-a-lifetime mountain gathering.But analyzing the southwest's trail-running ecology reveals clear regional differences nationwide: East China and North China dominate in event numbers, forming the country's largest event base, so while the southwest doesn't have the highest event density, its single-race scale and challenge level rank among the nation's top.
Faced with high-intensity, high-barrier race structures, participants in southwest events tend to be elites and experienced runners; although this places them at the apex of China's trail-running pyramid, there is also a mass of recreational runners waiting to be discovered.
At the same time, for elites and seasoned runners, FLYRUN is more of a runners' gathering set against the mountain wilderness,where everyone can meet without race pressure and experience local culture together.Against this regional backdrop, HOKA's choice of Emei Mountain was a key move to step out of the East China comfort zone, aiming to attract runners from Sichuan–Chongqing, Yunnan–Guizhou and South China, and to elevate the brand's nationwide expansion and influence.This also responds to runners' expectations for more mass-friendly events, fills a key missing piece on the national trail-running map, and lays a new pivot for building a complete trail ecosystem.With "people" at the center
A unique trail-running cultural scene
Based on participant numbers at this edition of the Feipao Carnival, it attractedover 2,000runners, the majority from the Sichuan–Chongqing region. According to on-site feedback, many were running their first trail race; one grandmother, nearly 70 years old, entered the course just to "experience trail running."All of this was driven by the course-friendly 12K and 24K categories: the less intimidating distances, paired with a deliberately designed two-person team format, not only strengthened the shared experience between runners but also gave hesitant participants the encouragement of companionship.From a brand-strategy perspective, the Feipao Carnival has already been, for HOKA in China’s trail-running ecosystem, from the international stage to China’s mountains,a long-term effortand an important link in developing China’s mountains and backcountry, creating localized cultural integration, and delivering an integrated race experience.If building a memorable course experience could be achieved with loud slogans and fanfare, that might be the quickest solution—but HOKA’s choice has been more genuine.Among them,“human-centered”attention further exemplifies the brand’s exacting standards; a careful look reveals small details everywhere, whether it’s the much-mentioned CP point’slocal cuisineandwell-stocked aid, distinctive on-course performances, and the finisher medal’s Luban-lock design—the brand’s thoughtful service was visible at every turn.
"On the course, someone dressed as the Monkey King actually cheered for me," "We ran right past residents’ homes and saw them playing mahjong"—such comments kept surfacing at the finish; these are the instinctive impressions shared by every smiling runner who crossed the line.Some runners couldn’t stop raving, saying, "The course atmosphere was great; the aid stations even had bobo chicken and sweet-skin duck."Although these details may seem trivial, for first-time trail runners the excitement will become a lifelong memory.HOKA recognized this and quietly stationed many volunteers along the course, replacing cold signs so that, before you even reached a hazard, someone would thoughtfully warn you to avoid it.These touches won’t appear in official promotional copy, but they already reflect the brand’s care and attentiveness.
If interactions between people raise the event's "temperature," then the HOKA-designed campsite booths provided the "breadth" of a second layer of experience.Among them, the veteran TCM consultations at the booth — much loved by runners — became a key touchpoint of the experience and a highlight of the Feipao Carnival's cross-cultural mix.Unlike other events, the veteran TCM crossover consultations brought by HOKA subtly showed a more approachable side, bringing the four diagnostic methods — inspection, listening/smelling, questioning, and pulse-taking — to the event.The master's ability to know everything from taking the pulse, and his concise diagnosis, "You're very strong, but you should avoid staying up late," gave recreational runners who pay less attention to performance metrics a grounded way to better understand their bodies before hitting the course.At the same time, the consultation slip could serve as a "pass" to the log workshop; with it, runners could enter, choose their own piece of wood, and have a classic motif branded onto it to make their own mountain keepsake.A seemingly simple wooden token — made from a tree from their hometown — can be a lasting memento for many first-time trail entrants.Additionally,Chinese trail elites who had just returned from the UTMB global circuit made surprise appearances to share their experiences and insights from major domestic and international races, which was undoubtedly one of the event's highlights.
©HOKA Feipao CarnivalThere, Meng Guangfu and Lei Yan fielded sharp questions, described the team process of arriving in Chamonix early to train, answered ongoing online debates about race gear, and recounted tearful finish-line moments — all of which moved the audience.There were even fans of Meng Guangfu on site who boldly expressed their support and admiration; despite limited experience, they still asked about pacing plans for the race.Upon learning Meng Guangfu would actually compete, someone joked, "I need to know your pace to decide — I'll stick with you for a few hundred meters," a funny, relatable exchange that sent the crowd into laughter and quickly closed the gap between elite and recreational runners.When he learned many entrants were running their first trail race, Si Lang Duoji emotionally recalled his own experiences and encouraged runners with, "If I can do it, why can't you?" — filling the venue with laughter and tears and giving runners a lighthearted source of motivation.
The following "Four-Nation Runners' Informal Talk" shifted the event's focus further from elite storytelling to a runner-built atmosphere, inviting four runners from different countries to sit together — a reminder that ordinary people among us have much to say.
Atthe Feipao Carnivalsite, beyond the hope that the trail spirit originating in France would be integrated, international runners from India, Nigeria, Yemen and other countries could, in their first trail races, engage in a dialogue with China's mountains.
©HOKA Feipao Carnival
Late into the night after things had settled, the excitement hadn't faded — there was still an online place to exchange inner thoughts with strangers. This thoughtful after-race setup came from fit4life host and fitness blogger @姥姥.She turned the podcast into a platform for every emotion: on the midnight radio you could speak freely, chat with other runners about how it felt to cross the line at the Fly Run Carnival, and even enter a draw for an entry to next year’s byUTMB mainland China races to begin your next high-mountain journey.©HOKA Fly Run Carnival
Post-race feelings can be simple or deeply personal, but when the tension and release runners experience in the mountains are gently put down, a deeper connection forms. Because the course distances are approachable, many were introduced to trail racing. The three-day event was more than a party: HOKA wrote “Leave No Trace” into every race. Out of responsibility to nature, community runners launched mountain clean-ups and rediscovered pure joy in the hills.
©HOKA Fly Run Carnival
Building connections among runners
Multiple layers of meaning
The on-site race atmosphere brings out subjective feelings, but in the lead-up to events HOKA quietly injected professional elements with younger, more lively touches.Shown on the event’s big screen, the H-30× elite training camp documentary filled the venue with joyful laughter; what might have seemed like a stern training regime instead revealed runners from cities across the country supporting each other day and night on the same technical route.Those warming friendships also revealed the purity of trail culture coming from the runners themselves — mutual support became “finding someone to help you surpass yourself.”At the same time, as the Fly Run Carnival took place, regular group runs hosted by retail stores also narrowed the gap with urban runners.With fixed weekly outings into the mountains — for example, the Chengdu store’s route passes through tea gardens and short climbs — runners keep a steady mountain touchpoint amid city life. Combined with the cross-level, cross-region runner network HOKA has built, trail running continues to grow across training, exchange, and lifestyle.The overall spirit was alsoHOKA co-founderfurther reinforced by the visit of Nico Mermoud.Raised in Chamonix, he views the mountains as the starting point of life, and at Mount Emei this would be a “gathering and sharing of runners in the mountains.”He emphasized that races are the reason elites enter the mountains, while carnival-style experiences help more people fall in love with trail running and point to a future of trail-style “super weekend” experiences.Speaking from the heart, Nico Mermoud also said that compared with Europe’s mature but smaller-scale events, Chinese trail running shows a younger, more vibrant energy and has the potential to create new models the world hasn’t seen yet.At the same time, trail talents from around the world appeared on site, giving the carnival a fuller international perspective and cultural depth.From a brand-strategy perspective, the Fly Run Carnival has become HOKA’s concrete expression of its long-term commitment to China’s trail running ecosystem.It uses events as a vehicle, centers on runners, and uses culture as the connecting point, building a complete link from the international stage to China’s mountains, becoming “ people-centered” a unique resonance.These experiences, flowing from peak stages back into everyday scenes, have deepened HOKA’s event strategy, forming an integrated ecosystem of community, products and races; centered on the runner, it has built a complete system that combines race structures, runner development, and product innovation.Finding their own rhythm, companions and sense of belonging in the mountains has become an important element for local runners to understand China’s mountain culture.At the same time, with the grandeur of the Feipao Carnival, it’s clear HOKA is bringing an international trail-running logic into China.It was also recently announced as a strategic partner of the 2026 Asia‑Pacific Trail Running Championships, and has linked the event with the long-standing partner Wuyishan Super Trail Race, forming the Asia‑Pacific Trail Wuyishan Super Race Week.Combined with the news of a five‑year renewal with UTMB in 2024, the global, continental and local structure has allowed HOKA’s brand ecosystem to gradually take shape.Runners can enjoy a consistent brand experience across races, training, culture and gear, and this gives every step the brand takes in the Chinese market strategic significance and long‑term value.
Text/Editor: Jim
Image source: Paoye Dabaozha
Visuals: Max
