The Changsha Marathon is a city marathon in Changsha, Hunan Province, first held on October 18, 2015 and run every fall since.
It started as a Chinese Athletics Association-certified race, then received an IAAF Bronze Label in 2019 and a World Athletics Silver Label in March 2020.
It wasn't held in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19.
The 2026 race starts at 7 a.m. on Sunday, November 15, with 35,000 runners in total: 18,000 in the marathon and 17,000 in the half marathon.
More than 190,000 people applied, so spots were decided by lottery;
the marathon was open to ages 20 and over and the half marathon to 18 and over.
Both races start next to Du Fu Pavilion on Xiangjiang Middle Road.
The route heads north along Xiangjiang Road, turns near Yinpenling Bridge,
then crosses Juzizhou Bridge onto Orange Isle (Juzizhou), the river island that's a symbol of Changsha, and loops around it.
Leaving the island on the west side, it runs via Fenglin 1st Road,
Aimin Road and Gongshang Road onto Xiaoxiang Middle Road, where half marathon runners reach the finish at Yurenmatou.
Marathon runners continue south along Xiaoxiang Middle Road through the Yanghu area,
cross the Xiang River on the Xiangfu Road Bridge and return to Xiangjiang Middle Road.
They then run north along Baisha Road and Shuyuan Road, past the old First Normal School campus,
and via Laodong Road and Tianjian Road to finish at the south plaza of Helong Stadium.
From the tip of Orange Isle to Yuelu Mountain, Yanghu Wetland and the First Normal School,
one course takes in Changsha's riverside scenery and modern historical sites one after another.
