Department of Sports, Taipei City Government

Taipei Marathon, as the very first road running race in Taiwan that has passed ISO14067 – Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Verification, is anticipated to start on 19th December, 2021 at 06:30AM at Taipei City Hall Square. In response to global warming and to reach the goal of “Net Zero by 2050”, Taipei Marathon has invited British Standard Institution (BSI) to conduct carbon footprint verification for the race, hoping to achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 3% annually.

As the number of race events has decreased drastically since the outbreak of the pandemic, Taipei Marathon will be learning from the successful experience last year by adopting the highest level of pandemic prevention measures. This includes requiring all participants, event staff, and volunteers to provide a health certificate prior to the race, passing the temperature screening before entering the venue, and always having a face mask on. Runners are permitted to remove the mask once the race has started. The organizer staff will then provide a brand-new mask for the runners after passing the finish line.

 

Shortly after the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) last month, Taipei City Government has also announced its plan for the 2050 Net Zero Carbon Emission. Taipei City will be advocating the importance of reducing carbon emission in order to achieve the goal of reducing carbon emission by 30% in 2030 compared to that of 2005, and eventually, reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Ｗhile making an effort in applying to become the first ever city marathon that holds a ISO-14067 certificate, Taipei Marathon took the lead in taking an action by requesting BSI to conduct the carbon footprint verification for the race event through tracing the hardware equipment, display decorations and materials (compositions), amount, weight, transportation method, and distance used in the event. The carbon emissions recorded by BSI will be used as a reference for future management. 

The actual actions taken to reduce plastic and carbon include the use of recyclable and naturally decomposable materials on the packaging of the adidas race singlet, the use of CircuWell non-plastic paper cups at the water and supply stations, the use of recycled stones for the trophies, as well as the electronic finish certificate, the finisher towels reduce the use of plastics, and the use of electric power motorcycle to replace gasoline motorcycle etc. In addition, Fubon Financial Holdings, the top sponsor of this event, also launched the "Run For Green" initiative, collaborating with not only Taipei Marathon., but also other iconic races. We are expecting to have 100,000 trees planted across Taiwan within the next 5 years. As a global citizen, environmental conservation is our duty. Come and join us!

 

Representing Taipei City, Hsieh Chien-Ho, Fu Shu-Ping, and Chang Chih-Hsuan did a fantastic job in the National Games in the women’s marathon category. Lai Yi-Ting and Tsai Cheng-Hsuan, were also outstanding in men’s marathon category. The local elites will be running the Taipei Marathon.  So are Tsao Chun-Yu, the record holder in women’s marathon in Taiwan, and Lee Chi-Ju, champion of 1,500 meters in National Games. 

In addition to the participation of domestic elite runners, the organizer has also invited 12 foreign elite runners to participate in the race in accordance with the regulations of the World Athletics (WA) label certification event. All international runners will need be quarantined and tested with a negative result. Oleksandr Sitkovskyi from Ukraine participated in Taipei Marathon last year. Unfortunately, he only ran an unsatisfactory result for 2 hours 20 minutes and 40 seconds. He is visiting Taipei again after a year, hoping to challenge his personal best of 2 hours 9 minutes and 11 seconds.

There are also two familiar faces in the women’s marathon elite list. Alemtsehay Asefa Kasegn from Ethiopia and Lilia Fisikovici from Moldova, personal best records are both at around 2 hours and 30 minutes. They have arrived early for the quarantine and to have themselves get used to the cold winter weather in Taipei.

 

Taipei Marathon has moved the finish line to Taipei Stadium last year for the first time, allowing participants to gather in the Taipei Sports Park. This year, the route was optimized again, the curved and narrow sections of the riverside park have also been adjusted to reduce physical exertion and speed increase, so that the runners can sprint at full strength and have better result.

Since 2020, regulations for World Athletics (WA) label races have made significant changes and now with three different kinds of certification – Label, Elite Label, and Elite Platinum Label. Currently, Taipei Marathon is the one and only city marathon with an Elite Label in Taiwan certified by the WA. With the goal of achieving the Elite Platinum Label in mind, we never stop striving to better and improve the delivery of the race each year.

2021 Taipei Marathon has attracted many enterprises in becoming the biggest supporters of the runners. Our appreciation extends to all the sponsors who have always supported Taipei Marathon for all these years, including Fubon Financial Holdings, adidas, HERBALIFE, CITIZEN, FRESH DELICACY COMPANY LIMITED, Songshan Ciyou Temple, Taiwan Mobile, Fubon Insurance, Marathon Expo, PEUGEOT ,AfterShokz, AROMASE, Synmosa, EVA AIR, ACTife, Chung Hwa Pulp Corporation, All Sports community, BRAVELOG, maobao, Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co., Inc., dyaco, VITALON FOODS COMPANY, GIGIJING, Colgate, Non-Stop_Running Podcasts, and many other renowned enterprises from various fields

 

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