Race Categories
Event Detail
The 2026 Nanning Marathon returns to the capital of Guangxi on Sunday, 20 December 2026, marking 20 years since the event's 2006 beginnings. The race is scheduled to begin at 07:30 China Standard Time from Minzu Square, with 36,000 places: 12,000 in the full marathon and 24,000 in the half marathon. Both distances are scheduled to finish at Guangxi Sports Centre Main Stadium.
Course and race experience
Nanning's established urban course takes runners along Minzu Avenue, around the Qingxiu Mountain area and beside the Yong River before reaching the stadium finish. The city's leafy boulevards have helped earn it the nickname Green City. The 2026 programme retains a wave-based starting arrangement to manage the large field. Runners should follow the organiser's final maps and corral instructions, rather than relying on previous-edition route details.
Registration and ballot
Public applications opened on 20 October at 10:00 and close on 1 November 2026 at 12:00 (China time). Marathon entry is CNY 180 and half-marathon entry CNY 150. Applications require payment but do not guarantee a race place: entries are allocated by ballot. Organiser announcements indicate the first ballot results are due 5 November at 14:00, with wait-list applications scheduled for 5–8 November and wait-list results for 9 November at 14:00. Unsuccessful applicants receive refunds under the published rules; successful ballot places are non-transferable.
The published entry rules require full-marathon entrants to be at least 20 years old and to have a qualifying result from one marathon or two half marathons within the preceding 24 months. Half-marathon applicants must be at least 18 and have two races of at least 10 km in that period. Virtual race results do not qualify. Medical and other eligibility requirements also apply, so read the Chinese-language registration regulations before paying. Elite marathon places are handled separately by invitation.
Before race day
The confirmed information covers the date, 07:30 overall start, categories, fees, ballot rules and start/finish venues. Race-pack collection dates, individual wave assignments, final cut-offs, transport guidance and other race-week logistics should be rechecked against the forthcoming organiser guide. The separate Nanning Liberation Day Run is scheduled for 6 December and requires its own entry.
Current-edition official announcements and registration are available via the Nanning Marathon website and its verified WeChat channel. The organiser's 2026 entry instructions were republished in full by Chinese race-calendar services on 20 October.