All the participants of the 2005 ANA Beijing International Marathon, to take place on October 16, will receive free personal accident insurance from China Life Insurance (Group) Company, said organizers of the event on Wednesday.

"All the working staff and runners of the event will be given a personal accident insurance for free, which is a brand new policy in the 25 years' history of the Beijing marathon," said Wang Dawei, vice-president of Chinese Athletics Association.

"Hundreds of trained volunteers will be stationed every 100 metres along the running course for first aid consideration, and the number of the ambulances will increase as well."

During last year's Beijing International Marathon, two amateur runners, a college student and a retiree collapsed and died during the run. The incident led to athletics officials calling for the need for participants to be properly guided and insured.

This year's Beijing marathon, also the marathon final of the tenth National Games, will hit the road at 8 am in October 16 from the Tian'anmen Square in the centre of Beijing, finishing off at the National Olympic Sports Centre.

About 50 top world marathon runners from home and abroad are expected to join the annual event, with more than 1 million people lining the streets and millions of viewers watching the spectacle on television.

Due to the renovation and building of some of Beijing's roads, the 42.195-kilometre course has been changed a little bit compared with the former editions, Wang said.

Starting this July, the registration of the event is still going on. Up to now the oldest registered runner is 73 years old while the youngest one is eight.

"Thirty thousand participants are expected to join the event this year and we hope it could serve more than a road race," Wang said.

Four categories are lined up for this year's event, Wang said, including the full marathon, the half marathon, the 10-kilometre marathon and the 4.2-kilometre mini-marathon.

(China Daily September 23, 2005)