The South Korean variety show 'Running Man' held the ninth anniversary in 2019. Photo: VCG

After being on air for a decade, classic South Korean variety show Running Man celebrated its 10th birthday on Sunday. Chinese fans of the show took to social media to also mark the anniversary and express their wishes that the show could  keep "running" for another 10 years.

As an urban action variety show, Running Man sees the seven MCs and guests complete missions around various famous landmarks to win a race. The show has created many classic games used on other variety programs.

The hashtag "10th anniversary of Running Man" had been viewed more than 170 million times as of Monday afternoon on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. Thousands of Chinese netizens sent their congratulations and best wishes to the program, a testament to the show's popularity in China.

"The variety show has accompanied me throughout my campus life and will follow me after I get a job. I love all seven of the hosts and hope the show can continue to be broadcast forever," netizen RuthlessMo commented on Sina Weibo.

Another netizen, Changyao, lamented about how quickly time has flown by. 

"I felt the ninth birthday of the show was only yesterday, but today it has turned 10 years old. Running Man has always been an enduring source of happiness for me."

The show boasts a huge number of fans in other regions throughout Asia as well with fans making subtitles in various languages including English, Thai and Chinese after each episode releases.

Since 2013, the seven hosts of the show have traveled to various cities in China such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong for fan meets. 

Shi Wenxue, cultural critic based in Beijing, gave his opinion on the secret to the show's longevity and ability to attract so many followers.

"Running Man does not only have many innovative and interesting games but also invites relatively fixed hosts. These seven hosts are like a family and audiences can watch their growth and changes through the show, giving the audience a feeling that the hosts  are always accompanying them," he told the Global Times on Monday.

He added that no matter if it is the scriptwriting or program editing, the show has a certain amount of continuity and so it is like a story; and because of this continuity, it has brought more enjoyment to audiences.