The 2024 Beijing Half Marathon is to take place on April 14.

As of 10 a.m. on March 15, a record total of 97,988 people from 42 countries and regions had pre-registered for the event, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports.

A participant pose at the starting line during the 2021 Beijing Half Marathon in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

As a mass sports event with a long history in China, the Beijing Half Marathon, which debuted in 1956, is now a grand festival for many long-distance runners.

Entrants for this year's event are required to be 16 or older and must have completed a marathon within six hours or a half-marathon within three hours between January 1, 2022, and February 29, 2024. Documentation of participation in online marathons will not be considered valid.

Additionally, around 20,000 qualifiers are expected to participate in the half-marathon, which will start from Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing and finish at the landscape avenue of Beijing's Olympic Park.