On June 25, the anti-doping in-person access education for athletics at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games was held in Rizhao, organizing all prospective participants to attend training and take exams, with more than 200 people on site participating in study and assessment. The activity adhered to the principle of "one team, one policy, precise teaching, improving quality and efficiency," adopting a method primarily of in-person access education supplemented by online, and organized offline education for different event groups at various training bases, as well as online education for personnel training outside and competing abroad.
The official new media account for the Beijing 2027 World Athletics Championships has officially launched. As the event's only official new media platform for external communications, it will release information including the competition schedule, star athlete lineups, and ticketing policies. The event is scheduled to take place from September 11 to September 19, 2027, at the National Stadium "Bird's Nest," with more than 2,000 athletes from over 200 countries and regions worldwide expected to compete.
From May 30 to June 7, 2026, the 13th National Track and Field Endurance Plateau Provincial and Regional Competition and Plateau Reserve Talent Training Camp was held in Wuchuan County, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, bringing together 16 teams from across the country, 257 athletes and 55 coaches. The competition featured two events, race walking and cross-country running, divided into U16 and U18 groups, with the top three individuals in each group named "Plateau Stars" and included in the association's reserve talent tracking and training database. The training camp specially invited Olympic champion Liu Hong to teach on site, providing guidance on specialized technique, plateau training and psychological regulation.
The first press conference for the Second National Youth Track and Field Games of the People's Republic of China was held on May 20 in Rizhao, Shandong, unveiling the theme slogan "Youth Track, Dream Rizhao," the mascot "Yangyang," and the event visual system. The Games are scheduled for August 23–27, 2026, in Rizhao, with 57 events (26 men's, 29 women's, 2 mixed) and an expected 30-plus delegations and over 3,000 athletes, coaches, referees, and officials. A 2026–2030 sponsorship solicitation plan was also released.
The 100-day countdown launch ceremony for the 2nd National Youth Athletics Games of the People's Republic of China was held on May 15 at Xinying Middle School in Rizhao, Shandong. The Games are scheduled for August 23–27 in Rizhao, with a 5-day official competition period. The main venue and opening ceremony will be at Kuishan Sports Center, featuring 57 events, with an estimated 3,000 athletes, coaches, referees, VIPs, and delegation members expected to participate.
The Chinese Athletics Association released the "70 Years of Chinese Athletics" interview documentary series, this installment focusing on the couple Ni Zhiqin and He Zufen. Ni Zhiqin broke the men's high jump world record in 1970 with 2.29 meters, becoming the first Chinese male athlete to set a track and field world record, a mark that stood as the Asian record for 11 years; He Zufen swept the women's 100m and 200m titles at the 1965 Second National Games and set a national 100m record of 11.5 seconds.
The Chinese Athletics Association released "Infographic | Big Data Look at the 2025 China Marathon," presenting 2025 China Marathon-related data in infographic form. The body text does not disclose specific data indicators or values, and only contains the association's copyright and website filing information.
The China Athletics Association released the 2025 China Marathon Events Blue Book. The original text did not disclose specific data, the number of events, or participation scale and other details from the Blue Book.
On March 29, the Fourth East Asian Half Marathon Championships started at Yangzhou Citizens' Center Square, combined with the 2026 Bank of China Yangzhou Half Marathon and the Grand Canal Marathon Series (Yangzhou Station), with 29 athletes from 6 East Asian countries and regions participating.
The 2026 National Track and Field Anti-Doping and Competition Conduct Meeting was held on the afternoon of March 26 in Jinan, Shandong. Cai Yong, vice president and secretary-general of the Chinese Athletics Association, delivered the 2025 work report and set goals and tasks for 2026. The meeting reported that major events including the Gumi Asian Championships, Tokyo World Championships and the 15th National Games achieved the goal of "zero occurrence" of doping problems. Representatives of provinces, regions, municipalities and the China Student Sports Federation signed and submitted the 2026 commitment letter.
On March 1, Chinese post-2000s runner Feng Peiyou finished the Tokyo Marathon, the first marathon major of the 2026 season, with a gun time of 2:05:58 (net time 2:05:57), breaking the Chinese men's marathon national record of 2:06:57 held by He Jie. He maintained a steady pace throughout, beating Japanese standouts such as Suguru Osako, Kengo Suzuki, and Ryota Kondo, and became the highest-ranked Asian athlete in this Tokyo Marathon.
Issy Boffey ran 1:57.43 for 800m indoors at Boston University, taking two seconds off her personal best, moving to second on the British all-time list and eighth indoors all-time, and claiming the world lead. She had run an indoor PB of 2:00.14 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. The time meets the standards for the European Championships in Birmingham and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She heads to this weekend's British Indoor Championships seeking her third title.
After winning bronze in the women's marathon at last September's World Championships, Julia Paternain will make her TCS London Marathon debut in April. It will be her first race in England since 2018 and her first visit home in nearly five years.
The 2026 TCS London Marathon takes place on Sunday 26 April, with an elite women’s field featuring reigning World Champion Peres Jepchirchir, Olympic Champion Sifan Hassan and London Marathon champion Tigst Assefa. It is the first time all three have shared a start line since the Paris Olympic Games. Hellen Obiri, Joyciline Jepkosgei and British athletes including Eilish McColgan also feature.
Lou Dapeng, former president of the Chinese Athletics Association, died in Beijing on January 25, 2026, at the age of 89. After returning to China in 1953, he broke the national record in the men's 200-meter low hurdles with a time of 25.2 seconds, became president of the Chinese Athletics Association in 1997, was elected vice president of the IAAF in 1999, and took part in both Beijing Olympic bids, in 1993 and 2001.
Emile Cairess and Eilish McColgan headline the British elite fields for the TCS London Marathon on Sunday, April 26. Cairess, with a personal best of 2:06:46, targets Mo Farah's British record of 2:05:11. Six British men have run under 2:10:00. McColgan returns after her 2:24:25 debut, joined by Jess Warner-Judd, Charlotte Purdue, and Abbie Donnelly.
The Chinese Athletics Association announced that former President Lou Dapeng died after unsuccessful medical treatment on January 25, 2026, in Beijing at the age of 89. He had served as vice president of the International Association of Athletics Federations and vice president of the Asian Athletics Association, concurrently directing its race walking and technical committee. The association said his death is a major loss to Chinese athletics and sports.
Scottish Athletics has announced its eight-athlete team for the Armagh International Road Races on Thursday, February 12. Jamie Crowe, Andrew McGill, Jack Patton and Logan Rees will compete in the On International Men's 5K, while Anya Maclean, Emily McNicol, Stefanie Tucker and Brogan Wallace race the On International Women's 3K. The women's race starts at 20:10 and the men's at 20:30 that day.
Laura Hesketh and Harry Sinclair ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this week (Saturday 17 January 2026), both at Alexandra parkrun in Moss Side, with 16:30 and 15:12 respectively. Louise Small (16:46 at Burnham and Highbridge) and Aga Gajownik (16:47, also at Alexandra) completed the women's podium, while Stephen Lyster (15:15 at Belfast Victoria) and Oliver James (15:19 at Albert parkrun, Middlesbrough) rounded out the men's top three.
The first British Milers Club meeting of the year takes place Sunday at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Four men in the 1500m have PBs under 3:40, led by France's Corentin Tixier at 3:36.12. The men's 3000m features six athletes who have broken eight minutes, while the 800m races will be unpaced and follow new World Athletics break-point rules.
Jake Wightman and Josh Kerr will race each other indoors for the first time on February 1 in the two miles at the Millrose Games, which is also Wightman's Millrose Games debut. Kerr set the World Indoor Record of 8:00.67 at the 2024 edition. Their first race together was on January 9, 2016, at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country International, where Wightman finished second and Kerr eighth.
After winning silver in the women's 100m at the 15th National Games, 34-year-old Wei Yongli announced her retirement. In 2018 she ran 10.99 seconds, becoming the first Asian woman since 1998 to break 11 seconds in the 100m. She led China's women's 4x100m relay team to sixth place at the Tokyo Olympics in 42.71 seconds, a Chinese Olympic best in the event. After retiring, she will continue contributing to Chinese athletics as a university teacher.
The Chinese track and field team sent 62 athletes to the Asian Athletics Championships held May 27–31 in Gumi, South Korea, with both the number of events and the size of the delegation exceeding previous editions and the team's average age just 24. On the first competition day, China won 5 golds and 2 silvers, bringing its total Asian Championships medal count since first competing in 1979 to 693. After a trough in world championships during the Paris Olympic cycle, young athletes such as Chen Yujie and Liu Junxi set records in multiple 2025-season events, and this Asian Championships became the first time this young team traveled abroad as a full squad for a continental championships.
The Xinhua Insurance and Chinese Athletics Association Member Service Station project launched on November 29, 2024, in Hangzhou's Qiandao Lake. The Qiandao Lake Marathon is the project's first stop, with Xinhua Insurance as official partner and sole designated insurance provider offering coverage for runners and staff. Famous marathon runner Li Zhixuan presented Xinhua Insurance's custom "Peace of Mind Kit," containing kinesiology tape, patellar straps, and cooling sleeves. The service stations will appear at major road running events nationwide.
The Chinese Athletics Association held a commercial resource channel promotion event for the association and national athletics team in Beijing on the afternoon of November 6, introducing 2025 channel partner policies and the association's and national team's brand, event, and athlete resources. China Athletics Brokerage, Aofang Sports, and CCTV Sports each presented projects including athlete representation, the China Athletics Street Tour, and the China Athletics Mass Standards Series. The association said it will hold channel promotion events regularly in the future.
On March 17, the 9th 321 Running Festival and Champion Edition Running Shoe Family New Product Launch, co-hosted by the Chinese Athletics Association and Xtep, was held in Wuhan. Xtep's brand running group "Xtep Running Tribe" has absorbed over 2 million members, established 67 running clubs, and organizes over 2,000 running events annually. This year's event, themed "Run Easy, Run Outstanding," covers the Wuhan East Lake Cherry Blossom Run, the March 24 Wuhan Marathon, and flash mob and online running activities in multiple locations.
From April 26 to 30, the 2022 Jiangsu Province Road Running Frontline Social Instructor Skills Retraining was held on the Abbott Sports online training platform, hosted by the Jiangsu Provincial Sports Bureau, with the first cohort of 100 people, and both instruction and assessment conducted online. The courses covered scientific running techniques, scientific road running training, and injury prevention; attendance was 100%, the assessment pass rate was 93.8%, and the participant satisfaction rate was 99.2%.
World Athletics awarded the hosting rights for the 2023 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships to Innsbruck and Stubai, Austria. Up to 1,400 athletes from more than 60 nations are expected to compete in the heart of the Alps.
The Adidas Terrex Speed Pro is a trail racing flat with a 23mm heel and 19mm forefoot for a 4mm drop, and 190 grams marked on the forefoot. After roughly 30-40 miles, the author found the Lightstrike midsole, Continental rubber outsole, and highly breathable open mesh upper excellent for protection and drainage. It has no sockliner, so he suggests sizing down a half size or adding one.
The Runblogger author updates his post about his daughter Emma seven years later: the 8-year-old who once ran cross country is now a teenager heading into her junior year of high school, competing in the 800, 1600, and 3200, and has decided to give up soccer to switch to cross country in the fall. She now leaves him behind within a half mile, they train together this summer, and he looks forward to running with her for the next two years.