The Qiandao Lake Marathon is held around Qiandao Lake (Thousand Island Lake) in Chun'an County,
Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and has held a Chinese Athletics Association Gold Label since 2019.
The 2026 race is on Sunday, November 29, with 15,000 runners: 4,000 in the marathon and 11,000 in the half marathon.
The entry fee is 200 yuan for both races.
In 2026 the course changes significantly, reaching the northeast lake area for the first time and increasing the lakeside running by more than 50 percent.
The marathon is point-to-point: it starts at Xiushui Square, crosses Yangguang Road and Qiandao Lake Bridge,
follows the Chunkai and Huanzuo roads, passes Wangzhai Bridge,
Yeqi No. 2 Bridge and Fengmao Bridge deep into the northeast lake area,
then runs via the greenway on the north side of the Fengmao Peninsula, the Xinchun road and Qiandao Lake Avenue to finish near Qingxi.
The half marathon loops via Qiandao Lake Bridge, the Chunkai and Huanzuo roads and Jinxianwan Bridge back to Xiushui Square.
Up to the 2025 race, it was an out-and-back course from Xiushui Square along the Chunyang road across Shangjiangbu Bridge and back,
with a single start at 7:30 a.m. Under the rules then,
there were water and drink stations about every 2.5km from 5km,
and bags had to be dropped in the start area by 7:15 a.m. The minimum age was 20 for the marathon and 16 for the half marathon, as of the race year.
