PACERTRIP CITY EDITIONCN / RACE GUIDE

2026 BANK OF NANJING NANJING MARATHON

Name: 南京银行2024南京马拉松暨大运河马拉松系列赛（南京站）精彩回顾
Uploaded: 2024-11-18
Description: This full marathon in Nanjing passes successively by the Qinhuai River, the Nanjing City Wall and the Yangtze. Centered around the Olympic Sports Center, it links the waterways and fortifications of t

The city you want to run becomes your next trip.

Nanjing
CN

ScareCriterion12 · CC0Wikimedia Commons · xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0Chainwit., CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons · Fumikas Sagisavas, CC0

Race date in 34 days: Nov 22, 2026 Sun
City · Distance: Nanjing · 42.195km
Entry fee: CN¥200From the 2025 edition
Status: ClosedTue, July 28, 2026 ~ Fri, August 28, 2026See how to enter ↗

Official website ↗D-day as of Oct 19, 2026

About the race Runner stories How to enter Course Race Prep Travel

Why you dream of this race

THE DREAM

ABOUT THE RACE

A day you'll remember,
long past the finish line.

This full marathon in Nanjing passes successively by the Qinhuai River, the Nanjing City Wall and the Yangtze.

Centered around the Olympic Sports Center, it links the waterways and fortifications of the “Ancient Capital of the Six Dynasties” into a course.

Nanjing’s signature autumn marathon in Jiangsu’s provincial capital, held since its inaugural edition in 2015.

The road to your own record

Picture the course in advance
and find the pace that fits you.

When the city cheers

Streets lined with cheers, runners all around.
You'll be part of that scene.

The trip that follows the run

Take it slow with the finish still in you,
and meet the city all over again.

Stories from runners who've been there.

From the joy of finishing to the tough moments — read what runners wrote themselves.

Race reports: 1

不吃包子不翻山Ran in 2017 · Finish time 4:12:57

“Just being able to stand at the start line felt like a second chance, so I didn’t care what time I ran.”

At the Nanjing Marathon, the runner was able to start after replacing a lost bib. Steep course, scenery, and local spectators’ encouragement accompanied the run to the finish.

Quoted from the original · translated

Original quote

能站在起点已是失而复得的幸运，跑成什么样都不在意了。

Read the original on 42旅 / 不吃包子不翻山

We translated a short line from each public race report and summarized the experience. Finish times are as stated by the author, and past editions may differ from this year's weather and operations.

See it on video,
feel it through their stories.

Preview the course and read what runners who went before you wrote.

Full recap

yang liu (run to travel) · Full recap

View on YouTube

This may be from a past edition. Check the organizer for this year's course and operations.

The way in that fits you

YOUR ENTRY

How to reach the start line —
start with what fits you.

Here are the ways to enter and what each requires.
Check the organizer's page for whether entries are open.

From the 2025 edition

Registration history

The 2026 race opened entry on Tue, July 28, 2026

Marathon

Entry cost CN¥200

subject to change — verify officially

Organizer's page

Official race website Entry options

From the start line to the finish

RACE WEEK

Your 42.195km

Know the course and time limit, and race day comes into focus.

From the 2025 edition

Runners start · local timeFrom 07:30

Event	Start	Field size
Marathon42.195km	07:30	26,000

START

奥体东站, exits 3/5

Start · Google Maps

FINISH

Yanziji Riverside Park, Nanjing, China

Finish · Google Maps

The Nanjing Marathon follows a course route linking the Qinhuai River, Nanjing City Wall, and the Yangtze River.

The inaugural race started at 8:30 a.m. on November 29, 2015, on a course passing these three landmarks.

Full marathon and half marathon, together with the 5km Mini course, were held, with 16,000 participants in total —

full marathon 2,000 runners, half marathon 4,000 runners, and the Mini course 10,000 runners.

Kenya's Kiptanui won the men's race in 2:11:44, while Ethiopia's Tufa won the women's race in 2:24:37.

From 2017, start line moved to Nanjing Olympic Sports Center.

The field also expanded: 21,000 runners in 2016 and 28,000 runners each year from 2017 through 2019 stood on the start line.

In 2018, the “Chinese Athlete Record-Breaking Award” was introduced,

offering $20,000 to a Chinese athlete who broke the domestic marathon record set between 2014 and 2017.

In 2020, the field was reduced to 10,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic,

but the race went ahead on November 29 from the same start point and at the same time.

Since course passes between the city wall, the river, and smaller waterways, the course combines Nanjing's historic landmarks with its modern urban landscape.

Field size: 26,000 runners (lottery + waitlist)
Grade: CAA Grade A
Typical race-season temperature: around 11°C (52°F): Short sleeves or light long sleeves + arm warmers

Participant benefits

Not yet confirmed in the official race guide

To the start line,
step by step.

Pick up your bib, check your wave.
So on race morning, you can just run.

From the 2025 edition

11/19 (Thursday) – 11/21 Sat

Pick up your bib at the expo

There is no race-morning bib pickup.

Nanjing International Expo Center, Nanjing

Google Maps

11/19 (Thursday): 10:00~20:00
11/20 (Friday): 09:00~20:00
11/21 Sat: 09:00~21:00

Stations & transport near the venue

Getting to the startMetro Line 2 Aoti Dong Zhan (奥体东站, exits 3

Source · checked Aug 22, 2026

More details

Getting to the start

Metro Line 2 Aoti Dong Zhan (奥体东站, exits 3/5) or Line 10 Aoti Zhongxin Zhan/Mengdu Dajie

Start at Nanjing Olympic Sports Center East Gate (南京奥体中心东门). Runners can ride Nanjing Metro free with bib/wristband via dedicated gates on race day.

Route crosses six central districts.

Map

Getting to the finish

Finish is at Yanzijiying Riverside Park (燕子矶滨江公园), a riverside area in Qixia District, some distance from the nearest metro line - no dedicated finish-area transit info found.

Source · checked Aug 22, 2026

READY TO RUN

From race morning to after the finish.

Your start time, fuel and bag drop.
Know them ahead and the run feels easier.

Nanjing is known as one of China's 'three furnaces' because of its hot, humid summers.

The plum-rain season, or meiyu, runs from mid-June to late July.

The average July temperature reaches 28.4 degrees, and the city's record high is 43.0 degrees, recorded in July 1934.

Winters, however, are unusually cold for the latitude.

January averages just 3.1 degrees, and temperatures fell to -14.0 degrees in January 1955.

The race has usually been held between mid-October and late November: November 29, 2015;

October 15, 2017;

November 4, 2018; and November 29, 2020 all fall within that period.

This places it in relatively manageable autumn weather between the hot summer and damp winter.

Annual rainfall is 1,144mm, with approximately 113 rainy days, so runners should be prepared for the possibility of rain on race day.

The start time was moved from 8:30 a.m. for the inaugural 2015 race to 7:30 a.m. from 2017 onwards.

Participation grew from 16,000 in 2015 (2,000 marathon, 4,000 half marathon and 10,000 mini-run) to around 28,000 annually from 2017 to 2019.

It fell to 10,000 in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the race continued from the same start area at the same time.

Times are local to Nanjing. Check the latest official information before the race.

A trip built around the race

STAY A LITTLE

MAKE IT A RUNTRIP

The race is one day,
the trip can be longer.

From a hotel that makes race morning easy,
to the meals and views you'll enjoy with the medal on.

Hilton Garden Inn Nanjing Hexi Olympic Sports Center

Hotel · 2.5km

8.9/10(11)

View on Booking.com

Tangshan No 1 Hot Spring Resort

CN¥149

2026 BANK OF NANJING NANJING MARATHON

About 2026 BANK OF NANJING NANJING MARATHON — what makes it special

A day you'll remember,long past the finish line.

The road to your own record

When the city cheers

The trip that follows the run