Beijing Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Beijing Marathon is a point-to-point road marathon that starts at Tiananmen Square and finishes on Landscape Avenue in the central area of the Beijing Olympic Park. It is held on a Sunday in October, organised by the Chinese Athletics Association and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports, and has been run since 1981, when it began with 86 participants. The marathon is the only race on the programme, and entry is by lottery: in 2026 more than 265,000 runners signed up for a cap of 32,000. The published route leaves the square along Chang'an Avenue and Fuxing Road to the West Third Ring Road, then runs north via Linglong Road and the North Fourth Ring Road to Xueyuan Road and Xueqing Road before reaching the Olympic Park. The time limit is about six hours. The race is a World Athletics Gold Label road race, and in 2026 it also served as the Chinese national marathon championships. Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia won the 2026 men's race in 2:03:10, a course record and the fastest marathon run in China, and Anchinalu Dessie Genaneh of Ethiopia won the women's race in 2:20:36. The women's course record of 2:19:39 was set by Sun Yingjie in 2003.