Taipei_International_Marathon
Taipei Marathon
Annual race in Taiwan held since 1986
The Taipei Marathon (Chinese: 臺北馬拉松) is an annual marathon held in Taipei, Taiwan, on the third weekend in December. The event has a Gold Label from World Athletics and has been held annually since 1986. It is the preeminent long-distance annual running event in Taiwan.[1]
| Taipei Marathon | |
|---|---|
The Taipei Marathon logo | |
| Date | Usually the third weekend of December |
| Location | Taipei, Taiwan |
| Event type | Road running |
| Distance | Marathon, Half marathon |
| Primary sponsor | Fubon Financial, Adidas |
| Established | 1986 (38 years ago) (1986) |
| Course records | Men: 2:09:18 (set in 2020) Paul Lonyangata (KEN)Women: 2:25:55 (set in 2022)  Alemtsehay Asifa Kasegn (ETH) |
| Official site | www |
| Participants | 28,000 (9,000 for marathon, 19,000 for half marathon) |
It ranks among Taiwan's top four marathon events, alongside the New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon, the Taiwan's Rice Heaven Tianzhong Marathon, and the Kaohsiung Fubon Marathon.[2]
On December 22, 1985, the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association organized a road running demonstration event that served as a warm-up for the first Taipei International Marathon.
The first Taipei International Marathon begins on March 9, 1986, with over 2,000 participants, including elite athletes from seven nations, running through the streets of Taipei. All of the starting and finishing points are on Ketagalan Boulevard.
The Taipei International Marathon ran until 1989, when it was forced to halt due to the construction of the Taipei Metro. It has spawned a new marathon race, held on National Freeway 3, which is currently closed to traffic. After the Taipei International Marathon resumed, the event was renamed "Taipei Freeway Marathon" and relocated to National Freeway 1.
Taipei International Marathon returned on November 14, 2001, with the starting and finishing points relocated to Taipei City Hall Square. The event was renamed "ING Taipei International Marathon" until 2008 after ING Aetna Insurance[Note 1] became the title sponsor in 2003.
Fubon Financial Holding Co. became the sponsor of the Taipei International Marathon in 2009. This year's race has 12,100 participants, the highest number in the event's history. The running route has also changed significantly, with the addition of a section of riverside park from Nangang to Songshan in 2011.
Starting time
Course
The marathon starts in front of Taipei City Hall and ends inside Taipei Stadium.[3]
The course first heads west along Renai Road into the Zhongzheng District and wanders around the area for about 5 km (3 mi).[3] Runners then head north along Zhongshan Road, and cross the Keelung River.[3] The marathon then roughly follows the river east until making a turnaround near the Nangang Exhibition Center, and then roughly follows the south side of the river back west to Yingfeng Dog Park.[3] Afterward, the course heads south and then west, eventually joining up with Nanjing Road before finishing inside Taipei Stadium.[3]
The half marathon also starts in front of City Hall, but ends on Nanjing Road before reaching the stadium.[3] It uses much of the marathon course, but only spends about half the time in Zhongzheng District and does not follow the Keelung River east as far as the marathon does, electing instead to cross west over the Keelung River via the Second MacArthur Bridge [zh] to head to the finish.[3]
- ING Aetna Insurance was merged with Fubon Insurance in 2008 and is now an affiliate of Fubon Financial Holding Co.
- Department of Information Technology, Taipei City Government (22 August 2019). "Taipei Marathon Obtains IAAF Bronze Label Road Race Certification". Taipei City Government. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
- "推動臺灣四大馬拉松 參與地方創生 帶動全民健康風氣". don1don (in Chinese). 23 December 2020. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
- "臺北馬拉松 / Taipei Marathon". Archived from the original on 2020-12-20.
 | This article related to sport in Taiwan is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about marathons or long-distance running is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |