Department of Sports, Taipei City Government

With the sound of the starting pistol trigger pulled by Taipei City Mayor Ko, Wen-Je, Taipei Marathon officially kicked off at the Citizen Square in front of Taipei City Government in the early morning. A total of 28,000 runners gathered to live their new lives in the post-pandemic era. To echo the theme「RUN THE CITY – WE ARE POSSIBLE」, Ko commented, “Taipei Marathon has gone through some rough times since the start of the pandemic, and now that the restrictions are gradually lifted and pretty much returning to the way before, our achievements in promoting Taipei have proved that as long as we are willing, nothing is impossible. Taipei Marathon, as we all know, is an iconic event in Taiwan. We look forward to and hope to see Taipei Marathon here always.”

What is worth mentioning is that Taipei Marathon is the only city marathon in Taiwan certified with "Elite Label" by World Athletics (WA) and the world’s first ever race event with an ISO-14067 carbon footprint certification received from British Standards Institution (BSI). 

Elite runners gathered for the year end race competition

Lani Kiplagat Rutto from Kenya crowned champion for full marathon male group with a finish time of 2 hours 09 minutes and 42 seconds. Additionally, Ethiopian runner, Alemtsehay Asefa Kasegn, a defending champion from last year, broke the course record of 2 hours 27 minutes and 36 seconds and won 1st place in full marathon female group with a finish time of 2 hours 25 minutes and 55 seconds. Both Rutto and Lasegn shared their thoughts after the run. They said, “Thank you so much to the organizer for inviting. It was wonderful to see the cleanliness of the streets and how professional the staff and the organization of this event were. The sounds of cheering along the route really pushed us. We hope to be able to come back to this beautiful city of Taipei next year. We promise to come back.”

On the other hand, Taiwanese male runner, Chiang Chieh-Wen won the champion in the domestic group with a finish time of 2 hours 25 minutes and 53 seconds. Female runner, Lisa Ries, finished with 2 hours 40 minutes and 54 seconds, winning 1st place in today’s ranking for women’s full marathon in the domestic group.

Lu Yen-Hsun challenges his first half-marathon

With 20 years of solid training and skills as a professional sports player, Lu Yen-Hsun challenged his first half marathon and finally finished the race in 1 hour 31 minutes 55 seconds. Not even feeling shortness of breath, he said, “Fortunately, I have had enough physical training before. The running distance in a fierce five-set match in tennis could easily add up to nearly 10 kilometers.”

Zhou Xian-Feng in the half-marathon male group finished with his personal best of 1 hour 06 minutes and 58 seconds. All-time 1st place winner Tsao Chun-Yu ran the half marathon and won with a finish time of 1 hour 14 minutes and 17 seconds. 

Embracing diversity and keeping event high standards 

Taipei City Government Sports Bureau is devoted in promoting friendly races and love for diversity. Wheelchair runners successfully passed the tests of the Zhongshan bridge and McArthur 1st bridge and finished the race within the time limit. These achievements are worthy of 10-week training before the race. 

The hosting organizer reviews and collects feedbacks from all parties each year after the event then optimizes the planning and execution in hopes of bettering the scale of the race year after year. What is most praised by the participants this year is that we adjusted the original route of passing Jiankang Road and Sanmin Road to McArthur 1st Bridge instead then straight to the finish line. With two less curves, the runners were able to have a smoother final sprint, making it easier for the runners to have a better time result.

Thank you to all sponsors and supporters

Our grateful appreciation extends to all the sponsors, including Fubon Financial Holdings, adidas, Herbalife, CITIZEN, PaMi Tseng Noodles, Taiwan Mobile, Fubon Insurance, Marathon Expo, JAGUAR TAIWAN, SHOKZ, AROMASE, Synmosa, EVA AIR, ACTife, All Sports, Bravelog, Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co., Inc., Maobao, Vitalon Foods Company, Nestle Taiwan, cama, Gigijing, nonstop running podcast and many other partners. Lastly, special thanks to Taipei Songshan Ciyou Temple for the support.