The Haidian Marathon 2026 will start at 7:30 on October 11. The registration has opened at 16:00 today (July 15).

The inaugural Haidian Marathon took place in 2024. This race and the following one both took Zhongguancun No.1 as the start and finish points. The route highlights the urban charm of Haidian, integrating the spectacular classical gardens as well as cutting-edge tech zones.

This year's marathon will remain a full marathon, with a total participant quota of 10,000. From 16:00 on July 15 to 24:00 on August 8, runners may submit pre-registration information via the event's official website, official WeChat account or mini-program (海淀马拉松), or any of the partner platforms such as Keep and Shuzi Xindong (数字心动).

The process will be the same as in previous years: registration, lottery draw, and payment upon successful selection. What is new is the introduction of a waiting list mechanism. If a selected participant forfeits his/her entry, the system will release the slot to the next one in order on the waiting list.

In addition, this year's marathon offers 1,000 guaranteed time-qualified slots. Runners who hit the qualifying standards of their age groups will secure direct entries.

Incentives will be further upgraded for this year's runners. The marathon's total prize pool has increased by 66 percent from the previous session. Cash prizes will go to the top-six finishers in both men's and women's categories, with the champion's prize increased to 40,000 yuan. In addition, following its previous practices, this year's marathon will retain course-record bonuses. For a male athlete who finishes with a time shorter than 2:18:22 or a female athlete finishing faster than 2:36:25, if he/she takes the first place, he/she will receive an extra 10,000-yuan bonus.

Apart from the race for elite runners, this year's marathon also retains two special competitions to foster a distinctive race-day atmosphere. Entries will open simultaneously for the University Challenge and the Haidian High-Tech Enterprise Challenge, allowing university students in Haidian and employees of high-tech firms based in the district to take part as team-based participants.

(Source: Beijing Haidian)