On May 26th, the Budweiser China’s iconic Beer Run has returned, the annual World Challenge Day proposed by the United Nations. The event was also joined by world boxing champion and Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming as well as over 1,000 running enthusiasts at Shanghai’s landmark Century Park, who together contributed to an inspiring challenge of consuming 526,000 calories with the run, despite the yellow rainstorm warning. With that target completed, Budweiser China, on behalf of all the runners, adopted a forest at the park, as a way of fostering ideas of healthy living and sustainable development. Our leadership team Jan Craps, CEO & President of APAC, Fred Freire, China President, Frank Wang, VP LCA APAC, Jan Clysner, VP Procurement and Sustainability APAC, and Goran Djuric, VP Logistics APAC, were present at the event.

Among the crowds, the presence of world boxing champion and Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming inspired every other runner with his stories of fearless, iron-willed fists. Zou said: “Challenge has always been a key word for my life. If it wasn’t for my challenge-loving personality, I would never have gone for a boxing career, and fought till this day in the ring.” On his encounter with such a novel, fun-packed event like the Beer Run, he seemed quite excited: “As a boxer, my training is tough and boring, so I will drink beer from time to time to get myself relaxed and enriched. Beer Run innovatively combines beer with running, thus opening up a new world for me – I never thought running can be so fun.”

Boosted by Zou’s participation, running enthusiasts went all out for the run, and successfully completed the challenge of burning 526,000 calories. With that, Budweiser China together with Zou, announced its adoption of a forest at Century Park. Both the Beer Run and the forest adoption serve to demonstrate Budweiser China’s commitment for Sustainability. While running makes life more sustainable, tree-planting helps our environment to beat air pollution

As a popular phenomenon that has gone on for four years, this year’s Budweiser China Beer Run also saw new ideas along the track that helped present an enjoyable running experience. And our brands, including Budweiser, Harbin, Michelob ULTRA, Boxing Cat and Beer Category, gathered at the post-run interaction zone, where exciting beats delivered by top band helped runners fully enjoy the refreshment and passion of premium beers. For this year’s Beer Run, we also teamed up with an internationally renowned sports brand to equip runners with smart, trendy sports gears that many KOLs couldn’t wait to share on their social network. Amongst these influencers was Thomas, an expat that has 1.4 million online followers, who said after the run: “Beer is able to bring people together and offer them a life that is healthy and passionate. I hope that Budweiser China can continue this meaningful event and bring positivity to more people as we run towards a better life.”

We would like to thank all running fans and colleagues who took part in the Budweiser China Beer Run. Unleash our passion for life and beer, and run for a better world.

See you next year for another love-packed run!