As you read this today, you’re witnessing history in the making. You’re part of that growth and change towards a better tomorrow. On April 15, 2017, Shanghai, arguably China’s most expat friendly city hosted its first ever VeganRunner Marathon at Century
As you read this today, you’re witnessing history in the making. You’re part of that growth and change towards a better tomorrow. On April 15, 2017, Shanghai, arguably China’s most expat friendly city hosted its first ever VeganRunner Marathon at Century Park in Pudong district.
Given China’s massive population of 1.4 billion people, it automatically becomes the biggest market for all new trends. However, with the meat-dominated cuisines of China as opposed to its neighboring vegetarian friendly country India, it comes as a huge surprise that China is now the world’s frontrunner in vegan consumption with 50 million vegans.
For years the word ‘vegan’ has been a stigma not many choose to use, for the fear of judgment. Not anymore. Veganism is a plant-based diet devoid of all kinds of meat and dairy products. Witnessing more and more people becoming aware and environment friendly is a huge leap towards sustainable development for future generations to come. Seeing over 120 people come together to make this event a success before the crack of dawn was exhilarating to say the least.
Carrying the baton, this marathon was sponsored by VeganRunner, co-sponsored by Shanghai Ultra Marathon. All participants were cared for and looked after by dedicated staffs of organizing bodies, while market leader in Vegan Salads- Sucici and Chinese Vegan- Sudada sponsored the food for all runners after the marathon.
Sucici provided specially made salads for the event neatly packed in paper cartons, while Sudada served freshly made Vegan JiangBing (Chinese crepes) although opting to use mock meats. There were lines of eager vegans for both stalls and a friendly non-competitive vibe between the food providers that made the event feel a lot happier.
A growing and increasingly active community on Wechat known as “Vegans of Shanghai”, “Veggie Lovers”, and “Vegan food home made & product” saw a lot of familiar faces, with expats and Chinese nationals clocking record times for the Vegan Runner (10.6km) and the Vegan Half Marathon (21km).
The winner of the women’s category was a practicing vegan of age over 50, securing second spot was Sara (Mexican) who has been instrumental in organizing the Vegan Festival in Shanghai which will currently feature its second edition from April 29- May 1, 2017.
While the winners in the men category saw a mix of age groups, all the top winners were surprisingly Chinese nationals. Breaking barriers and conventional stereotypes, ALL the runners in this marathon were either vegan or transitioning to veganism. There was no episode of fainting or muscle cramping and in fact, physical trainers available on site like Richardson, another very popular face in the vegan community, who organized the warm up session for this marathon and event organizer Aris (also a runner, and vegan) explained how having a vegetable based diet helps repair muscle damage faster and keeps the body fat mass to less than 5% and aids in a healthier lifestyle.
For all those who question protein and vitamin intake, vegan food is very rich in both with several options available.
Each participant left with a medal sponsored by Shanghai Ultra Marathon, a goodie bag with favors from sports brand Titan, a certificate of participation with their clocked timing and nationality mentioned. The entire marathon was extremely well organized with chest numbers with QR codes to record timings, volunteers handing out bottles of water and the super fast ‘pacers’ who ran the marathon and were identified by Easter bunny balloons and headbands bringing in the Easter cheer.
As Shanghai learns to grow and run on green fuels, aka veggies, we cheer them on for the spirit and solidarity it shows. Promoting this trend further, Sucici, the meal sponsor has offered to start a special meal plan aimed at educating one and all called the ‘Meat free Monday’ to help people give the chance to sustain the environment one day of their week. Up coming are ‘Plantopia’ the Vegan Festival that saw over 3000 people last year organized by winner Sara, Sharon with ‘Step It Up’ challenges and the glue holding all vegans together- Admin Eve on Vegans of Shanghai with various activities she organizes through the year. There’s definitely more than one way to get involved in the Green Revolution; give us a shout-out in the comments section if you would like to know more.