EditedbyLiZhuoxi
鈥淯nregisteredrunners鈥漴efertomarathonenthusiastswhodon鈥檛qualifyorwinlotteriestoofficiallyparticipateinarace,butstillrunthecourses.Althoughquotasformarathoneventsarelimited,it鈥檚hardtostopzealousrunnersfromfindingtheirownwaystoparticipate.These鈥渦nauthorized鈥漴unnerscanbefoundinalmosteverymarathon.Inrecentyears,withanincreasingpopularityofmarathoneventsinChina,this鈥渇reerunning鈥漰henomenonhasbecomeevenmoreevident.
Large-scalerunningevents,especiallyhigh-visibilityraces,arestillscarceinChinatoday.Thelowchanceofscoringalotteryentryservesasthemajorreasonforunregisteredrunners.AccordingtostatisticsfromtheofficialwebsiteofChinaAthleticAssociation,in2014,almosteverymarathoninChinahadmorethanenoughapplicants.Candidatesarerequiredtosubmithealthreportswhenapplyingforentry,andorganizingcommitteesperformscreeningtoensureeveryparticipantisingoodcondition.Thosewhofailtopassthefirst鈥渆xam鈥漚relikelytobecomeunregisteredrunners.Duetothelargenumbers,organizationsspecificallyfortheserunnershavealreadyemergedinChina.
Thephenomenonofunregisteredrunningisrareincountrieswheremarathonracesaremoremature.Thesecountriesfacilitateanumberofhigh-qualityraceswithabundantquotas,andorganizingcommitteesusuallykeepguaranteedentrynumbersforprofessionalrunninggroups.Inthisway,needsofthemajorityofrunnersaremet.
Comparedwiththesecountries,China鈥檚marathonsarebrandnew,fewerinnumberandfeaturinglimitedspace.Statisticsshowthat53marathonsandothersimilarrunningeventstookplaceinChinain2014,while1,100runningcompetitionswereheldintheU.S.duringthesameyear.WhileChina鈥檚marathonhistorystartedonly35yearsago,theBostonMarathon,theworld鈥檚oldestannualmarathon,hasalreadycelebratedits120thanniversary.Statisticsshowthatintermsofmarathonsports,thereisstillagreatgapbetweenChinaandsomedevelopedcountries.However,duetoChina鈥檚largepopulationandmanycities,expertsseemuchroomforthefuturedevelopmentoflong-distancerunninginthecountry.
Organizingcommitteesofvariousinternationalmarathonshavetakenastandagainstunregisteredrunning.Forthem,itisasafetyissue.Determiningthecapacityforaraceisneveraneasytask,butitisdonethroughcomprehensiveconsiderationofawiderangeoffactorsincludingavailablemedicalandlogisticssupport.
ProfessionalmarathonrunnersbelievethatitisdefinitelyagoodsignthatChinahassomanypassionaterunners.However,thosewhodon鈥檛winlotteryshouldn鈥檛justrunanyway.Volunteeringisabet锝倀erwaytosupportthesport.