The Macau International Marathon (Chinese: 澳门国际马拉松; Portuguese: Maratona Internacional de Macau) is an annual road running event held in the special administrative region of Macau adjacent to mainland China, since 1981. The marathon begins and ends at the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium. Since 1998, three races have been held at each edition: the full marathon, a half marathon, and a shorter mini-marathon of roughly 6.5 km (4.0 mi) in length.[6]

Macau Marathon
Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, start and finish area
DateEarly December
LocationMacau, China
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon
Primary sponsorGalaxy Entertainment
Established1981 (43 years ago) (1981)
Course recordsMen: 2:10:01 (2017)
Kenya Felix Kirwa
Women: 2:28:43 (2020)
China Zhang Deshun
Official siteMacau Marathon
Participants759 finishers (2021)[1][2]
741 finishers (2020)[3][4][5]
1,057 (2019)
1,048 (2018)

History

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The event was first held in 1981 under the organisation of the Panda Running Club and was the first international marathon to be held in the region. The Macau Athletic Association took over organisational duties in 1987 and the race was accepted as a member of the AIMS Racing Group in 1990.[7]

In 1997, the annual marathon race was suspended due to the opening of the Macau Olympic Stadium, but a half marathon was held for the first time in its place that year, maintaining the race continuity.[7]

In 2012, marathoners ran up to an additional 3 km (2 mi) due to a marshalling error, and many half marathoners also ran about 1 km (0.6 mi) more than intended due to a number of issues.[8]

Course

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External images
  Course map of full marathon in 2020[9]
  Course map of full marathon in 2021[10]

The course begins and ends at the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, and traverses the Taipa and Hengqin islands as well as the Cotai zone.[11][12]

Sponsorship

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The event is sponsored by Galaxy Entertainment Group, a casino and hotel investment company.[13]

Participation

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The marathon race attracts a majority of overseas runners, with average yearly totals of around 500 entrants and 400 finishers. The marathon's participation record was achieved in 1984, with 1121 runners starting the race and 932 of them finishing. The shorter distances are more popular with both Macau and foreign athletes. Since its introduction in 1997, the half marathon has gone from 348 finishers to a record high of 1279 finishers in 2006. The mini-marathon was inaugurated a year after the half marathon and instantly gained high participation (1111 runners took part in 1997 and a high of 1767 participants was reached in 2009).[14]

In addition to the large numbers of amateur runners who take part in the event, the marathon features elite level runners from East Asia, Africa and Europe.[15]

Winners

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Beatrice Omwanza (pictured here in Berlin) won the half marathon in 1997, when the marathon was suspended.

Key:

   Course record (in bold)
   Held as half marathon
Ed. Year Men's winner Time[a] Women's winner Time[a] Rf.
1 1981   Tom Flett (HKG) 2:41:42   Tak Wai (HKG) 3:12:42
2 1982   Antonio Eratavo (ITA) 2:21:54   Fung-fan Wong (HKG) 3:17:18
3 1983   Antonio Eratavo (ITA) 2:25:00   Yuko Gordon (HKG) 2:58:26
4 1984   Antonio Eratavo (ITA) 2:24:29   Fung-fan Wong (HKG) 3:00:04
5 1985   Antonio Eratavo (ITA) 2:20:18   Yuko Gordon (HKG) 2:48:18
6 1986   Antonio Eratavo (ITA) 2:26:47   Fung-fan Wong (HKG) 3:41:16
7 1987   Zhang Guowei (CHN) 2:16:21   Hong-wei Tang (CHN) 2:58:24
8 1988   Chao-ai Gao (CHN) 2:19:18   Elizabeth Hintz (HKG) 2:57:03
9 1989   António Costa (POR) 2:18:37   Suk-yee Lau (HKG) 3:07:11
10 1990   António Costa (POR) 2:17:37   Yi-Lo Man (HKG) 2:58:25
11 1991   António Costa (POR) 2:17:58   Yi-Lo Man (HKG) 2:52:54
12 1992   Jerry Modiga (RSA) 2:18:31   Yi-Lo Man (HKG) 2:51:18
13 1993   Hu Gangjun (CHN) 2:19:12   Li Yemei (CHN) 2:39:20
14 1994   Paulo Catarino (POR) 2:15:28   Li Yemei (CHN) 2:38:18
15 1995   Henrique Crisóstomo (POR) 2:15:39   Li Yemei (CHN) 2:40:47
16 1996   Dong Jiangmin (CHN) 2:16:30   Yelena Makolova (BLR) 2:40:13
1997   Hezron Otwori (KEN) 1:02:55   Beatrice Omwanza (KEN) 1:15:31
17 1998   Henrique Crisóstomo (POR) 2:19:44   Lyubov Denisova (RUS) 2:37:55
18 1999   Kim Jung-won (PRK) 2:15:21   Kim Chang-ok (PRK) 2:34:57
19 2000   Willie Mtolo (RSA) 2:19:25   Lu Jingbo (CHN) 2:47:15
20 2001   Benjamin Matolo (KEN) 2:18:58   Ren Xiujuan (CHN) 2:42:11
21 2002   Zhu Ronghua (CHN) 2:19:09   Catherine Leonard (GBR) 3:20:49
22 2003   Kasirayi Sita (ZIM) 2:15:58   Catherine Leonard (GBR) 3:16:25
23 2004   Adam Dobrzyński (POL) 2:16:30   Dai Yanyan (CHN) 2:37:27
24 2005   Philip Bandawe (ZIM) 2:19:49   Natalya Volgina (RUS) 2:40:59
25 2006   Peter Kemboi (KEN) 2:18:56   Phyo Un-suk (PRK) 2:38:27
26 2007   Ri Kum-song (PRK) 2:17:40   Phyo Un-suk (PRK) 2:38:27
27 2008   Yemane Tsegay (ETH) 2:15:06   Yuan Lili (CHN) 2:36:40
28 2009   Mihaylo Iveruk (UKR) 2:17:45   Roman Gebregessese (ETH) 2:37:08
29 2010   Tekesete Nekatibebe (ETH) 2:16:15   Wang Xueqin (CHN) 2:37:37
30 2011   Stephen Chemlany (KEN) 2:12:49   Tsega Gelaw (ETH) 2:31:48
31 2012   Haile Haja (ETH) 2:23:56[b]   Ehitu Kiros (ETH) 2:50:10[b]
32 2013   Julius Maisei (KEN) 2:12:43   Kim Mi-gyong (PRK) 2:36:32
33 2014   Julius Maisei (KEN) 2:14:45   Flomena Chepchirchir (KEN) 2:33:24
34 2015   Vitaliy Shafar (UKR) 2:14:44   Olena Shurkhno (UKR) 2:33:24
35 2016   Peter Some (KEN) 2:12:52   Kim Ji-hyang (PRK) 2:36:16 [16]
36 2017   Felix Kirwa (KEN) 2:10:01   Eunice Kirwa (BHR) 2:29:12
37 2018   Elijah Kemboi (KEN) 2:15:18   Mercy Kibarus (KEN) 2:35:16
38 2019   Tafese Delelegn (ETH) 2:12:53   Lucy Cheruiyot (KEN) 2:31:17
39 2020   Dong Guojian (CHN) 2:12:59   Zhang Deshun (CHN) 2:28:43 [5][4]
40 2021   Yang Shaohui (CHN) 2:13:04   Zhang Deshun (CHN) 2:29:09 [1][2]

Wins by country

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Country Men's race Women's race Total
  China 5 9 14
  Kenya 9 4 13
  Hong Kong 1 11 12
  Ethiopia 4 3 7
  North Korea 2 5 7
  Portugal 6 0 6
  Italy 5 0 5
  Ukraine 2 1 3
  Russia 0 2 2
  South Africa 2 0 2
  Zimbabwe 2 0 2
  Bahrain 0 1 1
  Belarus 0 1 1
  Poland 1 0 1

Notes

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  1. ^ a b h:m:s
  2. ^ a b The course was 3 km (1.9 mi) too long due to a marshalling error on the course.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b "2021 Marathon (Male Group)". 2021 Galaxy Entertainment Macao International Marathon. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b "2021 Marathon (Female Group)". 2021 Galaxy Entertainment Macao International Marathon. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  3. ^ China’s Guojian Dong wins 2020 Macao International Marathon Archived 6 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b 2020 Marathon (Female Group)Archived 6 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ a b 2020 Male Group Archived 6 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Course Map. Macau Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-12-24.
  7. ^ a b Event History. Macau Marathon. Retrieved 24 December 2011
  8. ^ a b "Macau Marathon 3K Too Long; Race Says Runners Share Blame". 5 December 2012. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Course Map | 2020 銀河娛樂澳門國際馬拉松 2020 Galaxy Entertainment Macao Interna…". Archived from the original on 7 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Course Map | 2021 銀河娛樂澳門國際馬拉松 2021 Galaxy Entertainment Macao Interna…". Archived from the original on 5 December 2021.
  11. ^ Macau Marathon map 2020Archived 7 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Marathon rules Archived 7 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ December 2011 AIMS Results. AIMS. Retrieved 24 December 2011
  14. ^ Statistics. Macau Marathon. Retrieved 24 December 2011
  15. ^ 6,000 runners vie in Macau tilt. The Philippine Star (12 November 2011). Retrieved 24 December 2011
  16. ^ "Kenyan and North Korean win marathon". Macau Daily Times. 5 December 2016.
List of winners
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