My marathons

南京马拉松 (Nanjing Marathon)

07:307:30 AM Nanjing
Ballot closed
Xuanwu Lake
Xuanwu Lake. Photograph by Windmemories, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The course

The course starts at the east gate of the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, runs past Xuanwu Lake and over the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, and finishes at Yanziji Riverside Park.

The course in short 2 lines
  • From the Olympic Sports Center to the YangtzeThrough the old centre and round Xuanwu Lake, then over the Yangtze to a riverside finish.
  • Three waves, set by your best resultThe field is 26,000, entered by ballot, and starts in three waves from 7:30.
Course notes 2 short reads on the course
km 0 to 42.2LandmarkFrom the Olympic Sports Center to the YangtzeThrough the old centre and round Xuanwu Lake, then over the Yangtze to a riverside finish.

The organiser’s 2026 rules list the route by street. After the start at the east gate of the Olympic Sports Center it heads east and then north through the old centre, taking Zhonghua Road, Baixia Road, Zhongshan Road and Changjiang Road. It then follows Longpan Road to Xuanwu Lake and loops the lakeside, with a turn on Longpan Road.

From the lake the route runs north to the Yangtze, crosses the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, and finishes in Yanziji Riverside Park.

Sourced

km 0 to 0.5CrowdThree waves, set by your best resultThe field is 26,000, entered by ballot, and starts in three waves from 7:30.

The 2026 marathon takes 26,000 runners on Sunday 22 November. Places were allocated by ballot and a waiting list: entries opened on 28 July and closed on 28 August, and the draw was published on 4 September. A runner needs a marathon or two half marathons within the previous 24 months to enter, and the ballot is split into three bands by best certified result.

On race day the corral and the gun depend on the same kind of result. The three waves go at 7:30, 7:45 and 8:00, and nobody can change wave on the day.

Sourced

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

5 gels for Nanjing, plus 1 spare

Finish

One every 40 minutes, by the clock:

  1. km 7mile 4.4
  2. km 14.1mile 8.7
  3. km 21.1mile 13.1
  4. km 28.1mile 17.5
  5. km 35.2mile 21.8

Our pick: SiS BETA Fuel gel, box of 6, strawberry and lime. 40 g of carbohydrate a gel, about twice a usual gel, from two kinds of sugar your body takes up side by side.

Easy to forget on race morning: pack them with your bib the night before.

Order now to test one on your last long run.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

In Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Salted Caramel, 24-pack, the best seller there.

Outside the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the UK and Ireland, Spain and Portugal, Italy, the rest of the EU and Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Chocolate Outrage, 24-pack on Amazon.com, the best seller there.

Anti-chafe
Compeed Anti-blister stick
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed anti-blister stick, 8 ml

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

An invisible layer before the start keeps seams, straps and shoes from rubbing skin raw.

Put it on before you leave for the start: heels and toes, inner thighs, under a bra or heart-rate strap.

Try it on a long run first, like everything you use on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Number belt
A race number belt
Illustration · drag to turn

Compressport Race Belt

Holds your bib without safety pins through your top, with loops for up to 8 gels.

Clip the bib on the night before, so it goes on with your shorts in the morning.

Keep the number on the front, where officials and photographers can see it.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Electrolytes
A tube of electrolyte tablets
Illustration · drag to turn

SiS Hydro electrolyte tablets, tube of 20

One tablet in a bottle puts back some of the salt you sweat out.

One tablet in 500 ml of water in the hour before the start.

Only if you have used them in training: nothing new on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Blister plasters
Compeed Blister plasters, medium, 6
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed blister plasters, medium, 6

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

One in a pocket cushions a blister if one starts.

Put it on clean, dry skin and leave it until it comes off by itself.

Give a couple to whoever comes to cheer, so they are there at the km you need them.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.
distance
42.2 km26.2 mi

Race week

Timetable

Sunday 22 November Race day

  1. 07:307:30 AM

    Marathon start, first wave Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, east gate. Three waves, at 7:30, 7:45 and 8:00; the wave depends on the runner's best certified result and cannot be changed on race day.

  2. 07:457:45 AM

    Marathon start, second wave Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, east gate

  3. 08:008:00 AM

    Marathon start, third wave Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, east gate

  4. Time not published

    Baggage drop closes Bag drop at the start closes 15 minutes before each wave goes. Bags are collected at the finish until 14:30.

Times as published by the organiser, in Nanjing time, checked .

Add to calendar .ics file, times in Nanjing time

Trip

Getting a place

Ballot closed for the 2026 race As read 15 October 2026.

Past years and every way in
Every way in, year by year →

nj-marathon.cn: this address did not answer when we last checked it, so it is not linked.

The organiser, a third party. We take no entries and have no part in the race.

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