The 2019 Lishui Ultramarathon was promoted to being a silver-medal event and the half marathons in Lishui's Songyang and Jinyun counties were recognized as bronze-medal events by the Chinese Athletics Association recently, according to CAA officials.

In its bid to develop the sport, the CAA has divided domestic marathon events into three grades – gold, silver and bronze – by assessing factors such as temperature, route planning, timing, services for runners, medical support and publicity.

The city of Lishui in East China's Zhejiang province has been staging marathon events since 2016. Last year, the Lishui Ultramarathon attracted 20,000 runners from home and abroad and became the first 50-kilometer urban marathon in China.

Since the Songyang Half Marathon was firstly held in 2017, the size of the event had increased dramatically, increasing from the initial 3,000 runners to 6,000 participants in 2019.

Last year, the Jinyun Half Marathon attracted nearly 5,000 contestants from home and abroad. Through livestreaming on various platforms, the event also attracted 2.69 million online viewers.

In China's major cities, holding marathons has also become increasingly popular.

According to the China Marathon Annual Report, released by CAA, 1,828 marathons were held nationwide in 2019, covering 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, with 7.12 million participants.