40 Amateur Runners Ready to Debut at Diamond League Shanghai Track

 The 2015 “Jiayin Mini Diamond Race” preliminary rounds came to a conclusion at the Shanghai Minhang Stadium last sunday, with thousands of amateur runners participating in the 5000m events. A number of them will now have the opportunity to run alongside athletics stars at the IAAF Diamond League Shanghai.

ZHANG Junfeng and LI Yanhong won the men’s and women’s events respectively, notching up times of 16’49”28 and 20’36”71. The top 20 runners from each group will compete in the finals.  

The “Jiayin Mini Diamond Race” finals will act as a preliminary event to the 2015 IAAF Diamond League Shanghai. Competing at the Shanghai stadium, finalists will not only share a running track with world class athletes, but also experience a high level event, top of the range timing systems, and most significantly of all, support from thousands of fans. The top three finishers will have the opportunity to step onto the Diamond League podium to collect trophies identical to those of the Diamond League Shanghai.

Since WANG Junxia triumphed at the 5000m at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, becoming  the first Chinese athlete to win gold in a long-distance event, long-distance running has become increasingly popular among Chinese sports fans. The inaugural 2015 Jiayin Mini Diamond Race is the first event to give these fans a chance to run on a professional track in China. The event strives to promote healthy living and provide amateur runners a rare opportunity to run on a high-standard professional plastic track.

Just hours after applications for the Mini Diamond League opened, every athlete had managed to register; none were willing to miss the opportunity to compete on an official Diamond League track. There was praise for the inaugural event from all those who took part in the preliminaries, with athletes particularly pleased that competing on a professional track had helped them improve their performance and set new personal records.

The “2015 Jiayin Mini Diamond Race” finals will be held on 17 May 2015 at Shanghai Stadium. 40 amateur runners are ready to set new records in their “running career”, on a track shared with the world’s best professional runners.

Alongside the on-track action, activities such as the Jianyin XBOX Booth, the Coca Cola Stamp Collection, the Spartan Inbody Test Machine and the Power Plate Experience Area allowed runners, family and friends to find out more about their physical stamina and explore the excitement of sport.