The Taipei Marathon ( zh, 臺北馬拉松) is an annual

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

held in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, on the third weekend in December. The event has an Elite Label from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

and has been held annually since 1986. It is the preeminent long-distance annual running event in Taiwan. It ranks among Taiwan's top four marathon events, alongside the

New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon The New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon () is the first and only one IAAF Silver Label Road Race in Taiwan. New Taipei City government started to work with Chinese Taipei Athletics Association in 2014 and applied for IAAF Bronze label. The race ...

, the Taiwan's Rice Heaven Tianzhong Marathon, and the Kaohsiung Fubon Marathon.

History

On December 22, 1985, the

Chinese Taipei Athletics Association Chinese Taipei Athletics Association (CTAA; ) is a World Athletics-recognised member officially representing Taiwan. The current president is Yeh Chen-yen, and the General Secretary is Wang Ching-cheng. The office is based in the building of Ta ...

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 Ketagalan Boulevard () is an arterial road in Zhongzheng District in Taipei, Taiwan, between the Presidential Office Building and the . It is long and has a total of ten lanes in each direction with no median. History The former name of this ...

. The Taipei International Marathon ran until 1989, when it was forced to halt due to the construction of the

Taipei Metro Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), branded as Metro Taipei, is a rapid transit system serving the areas of Taipei and New Taipei City, New Taipei in Taiwan, operated by the State-owned enterprise, government-owned Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation ...

. It has spawned a new marathon race, held on

National Freeway 3 National Freeway 3 (), also known as Formosa Freeway (), is a freeway in Taiwan. It is the second north–south freeway in Taiwan, beginning in Keelung City at Jijin Interchange on the provincial highway 2 (Jijin Road) and ending in Linbian, Ping ...

, 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 National Freeway 1 (), also known as Sun Yat-sen Freeway (), is a freeway in Taiwan, the first freeway built in Taiwan. It begins in Keelung at the intersection of Xiao 2nd Road and Zhong 4th Road and ends in Kaohsiung at the intersection of Zh ...

. Taipei International Marathon returns 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 InsuranceING Aetna Insurance was merged with Fubon Insurance in 2008 and is now an affiliate of

Fubon Financial Holding Co. Fubon Financial Holding Co., Ltd. () ( ) is a financial investment holding company consists of the following key subsidiaries: Fubon Asset Management, Fubon Insurance Co. Ltd., Fubon Securities, Fubon Bank (present Taipei Fubon Bank), Fubon Lif ...

became the title sponsor in 2003.

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.

Race

Starting time

Course

Taipei International Marathon 2012 Route map

The marathon starts in front of

Taipei City Hall The Taipei City Hall (), the seat of Taipei City government, is located at Xinyi Special District, Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The height of building is 54.42 m, the floor area is 196,684.59m2, and it comprises 12 floors above ground, as w ...

and ends inside

Taipei Stadium The Taipei Municipal Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Taipei, Taiwan. The original stadium, built in 1956, was used mostly for track and field events. Entertainer Michael Jackson performed two concerts there during his ''Dangerous Worl ...

. The course first heads west along

Renai Road Ren'ai Road (; also called 3rd Blvd and sometimes spelled RenAi, Renai or Jen-Ai) is a major arterial road in Taipei, Taiwan, connecting the Xinyi District in the east with the Daan and Zhongzheng districts towards the west. Renai Road forms ...

into the

Zhongzheng District Zhongzheng District (also Jhongjheng District) is a District (Taiwan), district in Taipei. It is home to most of the national government buildings of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan), including the Presidential Office Building, Taipei, P ...

and wanders around the area for about . Runners then head north along

Zhongshan Road Zhongshan, Chungshan, or Jhongshan () is a common name of Chinese roads, usually in honor of Sun Yat-sen, better known in Chinese as "Sun Chungshan (Zhongshan)", who is considered by many to be the "Father of Modern China". In Chinese cities, "Zho ...

, and cross the

Keelung River The Keelung River () is a river in northern Taiwan. The Keelung River originates in the mountains west-northwest of the town of Jingtong in Pingxi District, New Taipei City, flows down to a rift valley and then flows ENE to Sandiaoling. Then i ...

. 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. Afterward, the course heads south and then west, eventually joining up with

Nanjing Road Nanjing Road (; Shanghainese The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified ...

before finishing inside Taipei Stadium. The half marathon also starts in front of City Hall, but ends on Nanjing Road before reaching the stadium. 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 to head to the finish.

Annotation

References

* Recurring sporting events established in 2004

Marathons The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...