Dongguan Marathon

The 16th Asian Marathon Championships and Dongguan International Marathon 2017 kicked off on Nov 26 in Dongguan, Guangdong province, demonstrating the city's superior infrastructure, facilities and international image.

The Asian Marathon Championships is the top intercontinental marathon competition on the continent. Dongguan is the third Chinese city to undertake this big event, after Beijing and Hong Kong.

Some 30,000 sports enthusiasts and 40 professional runners took part in the event, doubling the figure of the last Dongguan International Marathon. Participants came from 18 different countries and regions across Asia.

All starting from the Dongguan midtown plaza, the full marathon ended at an ecological park, the half marathon ended at the Dongguan Basketball Center and the carnival run ended at the Qifeng Park, a picturesque resort in Dongguan.

Along the various race routes, Dongguan spared no efforts to showcase its environment, culture, history, innovation and development to the participants and audiences involved. Taking this event as the perfect opportunity, Dongguan has been upgrading the buildings and optimizing the surroundings alongside the marathon circuit.

The organizing committee invited international measurement officers to survey the racing track, which had finally obtained authentication certificates issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations and the Asian Athletics Association.