Sweat, Sales Pitches and Scandal at the Beijing Running Festival

（CRI Online）  09:31, April 17, 2013  

Sunday morning, 20,000 people squeezed their way into Tiananmen Square for the Beijing International Long Distance Running Festival, and were anxiously fidgeting, stretching, and hopping up and down in the moments before the run began.

Race officials were frantically attempting to organize the masses into gender-segregated areas for the 10 and 5 kilometers and mini family running events. Faster runners wiggled their way towards the starting line, which was completely occupied by a small army of young men proudly waving the key sponsor's flags in the air. The tai chi performers were quickly gliding out of the square before the oncoming torrent of bodies bowled them over.

The start signal sent the crowd energy into a spike and the mass of runners squeezed through a rollicking Tiananmen Square maze before pushing south toward the Temple of Heaven.