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Event Detail
The Changzhou West Taihu Half Marathon returns on 1 November 2026 as one of Jiangsu's major road-running events. First staged in 2014, the race has grown into an established large-field half marathon and the 2026 edition is listed as a World Athletics Elite Label event as well as a China Athletics Association Class A race. The published field limit is 20,000 runners, making it a substantial national-level event rather than a small local race.
The 21.0975 km course starts and finishes at the North Gate of Changzhou West Taihu Flower Expo Park in Wujin District. The current route runs from the Flower Expo Park onto Huanhu North Road, turns onto Xiangyang Road and Lanyue Road for the turnaround section, then returns via Jiacheng Road, Huahui Avenue and Huanhu North Road. Current race material emphasises the route's low undulation, wide roads and lakeside setting, characteristics that have made West Taihu a popular race for runners targeting fast half-marathon times.
Race day starts at 07:30 China Standard Time. Registration for the 2026 edition opened on 27 August and closed at 18:00 on 22 September. Because applications can exceed the available places, the organiser uses a ballot system. Results were scheduled for 27 September, followed by a payment window for successful and waitlisted applicants through 30 September, with unused places then released to the waitlist.
The race also forms part of Changzhou's wider sports-tourism programme around West Taihu. For the 2026 weekend, registered runners can use their race bib and identification to obtain half-price admission at a group of participating Changzhou attractions from 30 October to 1 November. Detailed 2026 race-pack collection times, prize schedules and course cut-off arrangements were not yet available in the current public material checked for this draft, so they have been left unstated rather than inferred from previous editions.