At 7:30 on January 7, 2024, with the first starting gun of Xiamen International Convention and Exhibition Center, the first platinum label marathon in 2024, Xiamen Marathon, officially kicked off.
As we all know, the track in Xiamen is very beautiful and abusive, and it is not a suitable track for results. However, the high level of the competitors makes us have high expectations for this year's Xiamen Marathon: in terms of elite athletes, there are 4 international runners of SUB205 leading the way, and at the mass level, the requirements for the whole marathon through time have been increased by 6 minutes compared to last year, which can be called the strictest in history.
The temperature of 15°C and the humidity of 64% at the start of the race in Xiamen today created more favorable conditions for the runners. In the end, Ethiopia's ASEFA and Bekelech won the men's and women's championships with a time of 02:06:46 and 02:22:54 respectively, and according to post-race statistics, 2,347 of the 30,000 competitors completed the achievement of breaking three, second only to North Malaysia in the domestic competition.
Among the running shoes that break the top foot of the three running shoes, the proportion of domestic running shoes has achieved an overwhelming advantage. Among them, the most eye-catching existence that is frequently active in the crowd is undoubtedly Zhijing 2.0 released at the end of last year.
Last year's Shanghai Marathon was the first appearance of Zhijing 2.0 in the platinum label event. At that time, Zhijing 2.0 had not yet been officially launched, but its stunning design and top-level configuration had already attracted the attention of a group of serious runners who competed to participate in the "co-creation" of this pair of running shoes.
In the race, it also lived up to expectations, helping more than 60 runners successfully break the third, ranking third among all brands.
On the one hand, Xiamen is the "base camp" of many domestic brands, and the competition at the doorstep can be said to be full of flowers; on the other hand, in the second half of last year, the domestic top racing ushered in a big change, and the competition in configuration and price is becoming more and more fierce, and Zhijing 2.0 is not advantageous in terms of release time.
On the Xiamen Horse Track, where the strong are like clouds, can Zhijing 2.0 win a place?
When the 2,347th runner crossed the finish line, all the suspense was revealed. Hongxing Erke's share of runners reached 18%, an increase of 13% compared with the previous horse, ranking second among the brands in the field.
Zhijing 2.0 also helped 126 runners complete PB, and at the same time helped 424 runners successfully complete the goal of breaking three, becoming a strong contender for breaking three single product rankings, and handed over a brilliant report card.
And this was not Erke's first highlight show on the horse.
In 2023, Zhijing 1.0 surpassed many domestic brands as a dark horse, with a share of 26.2% of runners breaking the third runner, ranking second among the brands in the whole venue, allowing runners across the country to know this brand that does things in a low-key manner and produces high-profile results.
So, what kind of efforts did Erke, who has performed well in Xiamen Horse for two consecutive years, put in behind it?
On December 23, 2023, Jiang Zhilong, the designer of the Zhijing series, Li Zhixuan, the "first sister of the national horse", and hundreds of running bloggers gathered at the Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai, and it was the release of Zhijing 2.0 that could gather this group of runners who have experienced hundreds of races and are full of enthusiasm for racing.
Through the introduction of designer Jiang Zhilong, we gradually understand the unknown mysteries behind Zhijing 2.0.
In terms of exterior design, the Honghu logo design of Zhijing 1.0 has become a unique memory point for many runners. While retaining this design, the 2.0 introduced the design inspiration of the J-20 fighter, and the overall shape design became more angular, and it also had a more sense of speed, making people more eager to race.
The addition of multiple colors such as pink leopard, swan, and azure also provides runners with more diverse choices.
In terms of the core midsole technology, faster, lighter and more stable is the main theme of the iterative upgrade of Zhijing 2.0.
In terms of the configuration of the carbon plate, Zhijing 2.0 has made a stiffener design on the basis of a generation of full-palm heterogeneous carbon plate, which greatly improves the leverage of the carbon plate and increases the promotion efficiency by 15.7%; at the same time, the forefoot warping point has been moved back by 3mm, which is more in line with the power Xi of elite runners, and the rolling feeling is more obvious.
In addition, Qi Technology in the midsole uses full-palm supercritical foamed PEBA material, and the energy return rate reaches 87%, which is 2% higher than that of the previous generation. According to the measured feedback of Xiamen Marathon elite runners, the acceleration effect of Zhijing 2.0 is significantly stronger than that of the first generation.
In terms of stability, Zhijing 2.0 takes into account the runner's running posture in the second half of the marathon, which further increases the heel width by 7%, and upgrades the midsole to a dual-density design, with an overall stability increase of 6.4% compared with the first generation, which has also been well received by Xiamen marathon runners.
The controversial weight issue of the first generation has also been significantly improved in Zhijing 2.0. The CPU rubber outsole has been reduced by 25% while maintaining excellent abrasion resistance, and the heel has been replaced with a lighter locking mechanism instead of heavy foam padding.
In the upper part, the combination of TPEE yarn and twisted weaving technology also makes it have better heat dissipation and durability on the basis of light weight.
Overall, the weight of the Zhijing 2.0 is 5.1g lighter than that of the previous generation, which can reduce the burden on runners in the mileage of the whole marathon.
In general, on the basis of inheriting the genes of a generation, Zhijing 2.0 has a more balanced upgrade in key performance such as weight, propulsion, and stability, which is also Erke's most direct response to consumer voices.
From the signing of Li Zhixuan, to the release of Zhijing 1.0, to winning the second place in the Xiamen Marathon Breaking Three Runner Share Rankings twice, Hongxing Erke's success is obviously not an accidental phenomenon. Behind this is its determination to deepen the national movement.
On March 3, 2023, on the brand's science and technology day, Hongxing Erke officially released the brand strategy of "Co-creating Chinese Runners", and began to explore the field of professional running shoe matrix construction and professional runner services, and at the Boao Forum for Chinese Entrepreneurs at the end of 2023, Wu Rongzhao, chairman of Hongxing Erke, confidently proposed a new brand strategy of "Born for National Sports".
From the transformation and update of the brand strategy, we can see that Hongxing Erke is guided by science and technology to comprehensively enhance the confidence of the national sports experience.
Behind the self-confidence is Hongxing Erke's down-to-earth research and development and innovation.
In the field of racing, before the launch of Zhijing 1.0, after the co-creation of professional athletes, designers, and mass runners, and after many rounds of testing, feedback, and adjustment, it finally created the feat of 65 podiums within 9 months of listing, and helped Li Zhixuan, Xu Wenhao and other elite athletes win 32 championships.
Before the official launch of Zhijing 2.0, it has also undergone a lot of evaluations and improvements in large-scale events such as North Malaysia, Shanghai Marathon, and Guangzhou Marathon, and only then has the current full body version.
In the field of popular sports, Hongxing Erke takes into account the needs of various user groups in an all-round way, and has launched the Absolute Dust 2.0 for serious runner training, which realizes the combination of speed and stability through Qi technology and ultra-large area anti-torsion plates.
For daily jogging, the first park jogging shoe - Odd Bullet 5.0 has been developed, which is more in line with the needs of mass runners for cushioning and comfort.
However, Hongxing Erke, who was born for the national movement, is far from "Zhi" here. In 2024, Hongxing Erke will also start with scientific and technological research and development, continue to deepen and polish its own running shoe matrix, and truly achieve the goal of covering all runners.
It is worth mentioning that in March 2024, Hongxing Erke Racing Line will also launch a top-level racing product positioned beyond Zhijing 2.0, so what changes will it bring to the market structure?