Beijing Marathon Portable Toilets
The configuration and services of portable toilets for the Beijing Marathon have been continuously optimized and improved in recent years to better meet the needs of participating runners.
During the 2013 Beijing International Marathon, the organizers set up 300 portable toilet stalls. However, issues such as unreasonable toilet locations and a lack of guiding signs led some runners to relieve themselves on red walls and in green belts, triggering the public health incident known as the "urination on red walls," which reflected significant shortcomings in the configuration and management of portable toilets at that time.
By 2024, some participants reported that there were too few portable toilet points before the race and that they were overcrowded, suggesting the addition of separate urinals for men to improve the efficiency of runners using the facilities. In response, the Municipal Sports Bureau stated that the 2025 Beijing Marathon would set the number of toilet facilities based on the male-to-female participation ratio to maximize the satisfaction of participating runners and maintain order in toilet usage.
In 2025, there was a significant improvement in the configuration of portable toilets for the Beijing Marathon. A total of 1,119 portable toilets were set up at the starting area to meet the needs of tens of thousands of participants. This configuration was based on scientific calculations by the event organizers regarding the scale of participation and pedestrian density, aiming to alleviate the pressure of queuing for toilets before the race. At the south side of the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square (the assembly area for participating athletes), 500 temporary toilet stalls were established, an increase of 160 from the previous year. Combined with the 400 stalls in the fixed public toilets around Tiananmen Square, the ratio of participating runners to toilet stalls reached 33:1. Two more highly efficient trough-style toilets were added at the entrance, each capable of accommodating 80 male runners simultaneously. Along the route, a total of 14 temporary public toilets were set up, with one every 2 kilometers or 2.5 kilometers. Each temporary public toilet had between 4 and 9 stalls, totaling 77 stalls.
In addition, the event organizers optimized services in other ways. They published the "Beijing Marathon Toilet Guide" on the official website, presenting the locations of toilets at the starting point in an illustrated format and the locations and quantities of toilets along the route in a tabular format. Volunteers and referees were stationed along the route to guide runners to the toilets, and detailed toilet signs were set up to indicate the distance to the nearest toilet ahead and the location of nearby available public toilets. The organizing committee also implemented photographic and video surveillance of the race area, and runners who engaged in uncivilized behavior such as urinating anywhere would be disqualified from the race.
