On 24 November, 1957, the first marathon in New China was held in Nanjing. Xia Qiyu, Zhou Degui, and Ding Yimei took 1st, 2nd and 4th places, respectively. The three returned to Nanjing for the opening of a marathon in history exhibition. Full story (in Chinese) via this link; read about Nanjing introduced as never before via this link.