The 2025 Guangzhou Marathon will start on December 21 (this Sunday) at Tianhe Sports Center.Based on social media observations and athlete confirmations, Run Wild Big Bang has compiled a list of the Guangzhou Marathon's invited and mass-elite athletes for both the men's and women's fields.Men's invited athletesOn that front, a pleasant surprise is that the 'King of the 10,000m' and long-distance legendKenenisa Bekele（Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha), has been confirmed to line up at the Guangzhou Marathon this year. This is also the first time a marathon GOAT-level athlete has come to China to race. Are you looking forward to his performance?Besides Bekele, three other sub-2:08 elites from Ethiopia and Kenya will compete. Domestic entrants include last year's Guangzhou Marathon champion Chen Tianyu and Dazaxi Ciren, who finished fifth in the marathon at the National Games.Women's invited athletes — leading the field is the runner who recently ran this year's Shanghai Half MarathonJoyce Chepkemoi Tele（Joyce Chepkemoi Tele），PB 为 2:20:17。而中国选手方面，PB 最快的是刚刚在北马获得国内季军的Ding Changqin，还有缺席全运会、体能满格的Li Yingcui。There are also many strong Chinese male runners entered in the mass field, including北马夺得国内亚军后、又在合肥马拉松获得全场冠军的Yang Chunlong，以及刚刚在南宁马拉松夺得国内男子第一的Wu Mingyao等等，今年状态火热的大众跑者“天花板”Di Yun同样在列。不过，计划参赛的中国最快编辑“Tiedan” Li Jian没有出现在名单之列，让人有些意外。There are also many familiar names among Chinese mass runners: some have kept strong form through the second half of the season,for example Zhu Qing, the top domestic woman at this year's Hangzhou Marathon, a frequent competitor,and Huang Fei, who has improved her PB multiple times this year, among others. Guangzhou will also be a stage for direct competition among the mass women.Currently, the Guangzhou Marathon's course record for men is 2 hours 6 minutes 28 seconds, and for women is 2 hours 23 minutes 50 seconds, while the domestic men's course recordsare: 2 hours 09 minutes and 2 hours 32 minutes 01 seconds.
How many course records will be broken this year? Who do you think will take the win? Are you looking forward to seeing Bekele on the Guangzhou Marathon starting line?
Let's look forward to this special Winter Solstice together.
Text： Meng Meng / Editor：Meng Meng
Photo:Trail Running Big Bang / Visuals:Five-YearTrainee
