100,000 runners ready for the Beijing Marathon (2)

(Photos taken on Friday show registered runners pose for photos at the Beijing Marathon Expo, as they receive their numbers and uniforms for the upcoming game this weekend.  Jiang Jie/People's Daily Online)

A total of 98,687 runners will participate in the 2017 Beijing Marathon on September 17, up 48 percent, Shui Tao, an official at the General Administration of Sports in charge of marathons, said at a press conference on Friday.

Shui said a 500-meter family run will also be held, giving 500 families with children aged 3 to 13 the chance to participate in it.

Meanwhile, this year’s marathon will also see the launch of a campaign to recruit 10 people, five male and five female, for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, in order to encourage more public participation in sports. A total of 10,000 runners will be selected for training and further selection for the group of 10 by 2019. Six of them will be able to run in the Olympics.