2026 Zhengzhou Bank Zhengzhou Marathon

The 2026 Zhengzhou Bank Zhengzhou Marathon is the sixth edition of Zhengzhou's flagship city marathon and a China Athletics Association A-class certified road race. The event is scheduled for Sunday, 18 October 2026, with a 7:00am start in the Zhengdong New Area CBD. A field of 25,000 runners is expected, split between 12,000 marathon entrants and 13,000 half-marathon entrants.

Both races start and finish on Huizhan Road beside the Zhengzhou International Convention and Exhibition Centre and Ruyi Lake. The course largely follows the previous edition's route, linking modern Zhengdong with central Zhengzhou and a series of major city landmarks. Published course highlights include the Millennium Royal Plaza ("Big Corn"), Zhengzhou International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Zijingshan Park, the Shang City archaeological remains, Erqi Memorial Tower and Longzi Lake. The route is designed to showcase both Zhengzhou's contemporary skyline and its history as an ancient Shang-dynasty capital.

The 2026 event continues Zhengzhou Marathon's distinctive surname-culture theme, built around Henan's role in Chinese surname history. Organisers have also announced cultural displays drawing on poetry, Henan opera and martial arts, along with a race-week carnival and heritage market around the event.

Entry used a pre-registration and ballot system. General pre-registration ran from 10 to 19 August, followed by direct-entry confirmation, the main ballot and a second-chance ballot/payment period ending in early September. Marathon applicants were required to show recent marathon or half-marathon race experience, while half-marathon applicants needed recent 10K-or-longer race results. Minimum ages are 20 for the marathon and 18 for the half marathon.

Current organiser information confirms participant shirts, clothing bags and bibs for all runners, plus a newly designed finisher medal. The medal uses an opening "cultural doorway" concept incorporating surname and Zhengzhou landmark imagery. The 2026 prize structure was also increased, with CNY 60,000 for the marathon winner and CNY 30,000 for the half-marathon winner. Final runner-guide details such as packet-collection times and detailed race-day transport instructions had not yet been published in the sources checked, so runners should use the official event website and WeChat account for the last operational updates.