China half marathon offers cow, fish, chickens as prizes

A half marathon in China's northeast province of Jilin announced an unusual selection of prizes, with first over the line winning a cow and other runners getting wild fish, geese or roosters, in a bid to attract more participants and promote local produce.

The organisers of the Nong'an Taipingchi Ice and Snow half marathon on December 29 said in a WeChat post that male and female champions of the half marathon would be awarded a cow. The farm animal could also be exchanged for 6,000 yuan (AED3,039).

Second place gets wild fish from Taiping pond, while other prizes were geese, ducks and roosters from the same pond. Ten kilograms of rice and wheat would be given out to other finishers.

The notice was widely circulated on Chinese social media and ranked as one of the hottest topics on platform Weibo on Tuesday.

"If the first place person lives overseas, do you need to buy a high speed train ticket for cattle?," asked one user.

The event is due to take place in the Wetland Park in Nong'an County, Jilin, which is a major agriculture producer.