The 2027 Chongqing Marathon will celebrate its 15th anniversary, and the pre-registration window officially opens this Wednesday (September 2).

Pre-registration period: September 2, 2026 to September 13, 2026.

The race is scheduled to start on January 10, 2027.

This will be the second consecutive year the Chongqing Marathon is being held earlier; on January 10 next year it will clash with the 2027 Xiamen Marathon — which one will you run?

The Chongqing Marathon course starts and finishes at Haitang Yanyu Park, with two turnaround points on the full course (under Chaotianmen Bridge and at the Ronghui Jiangshan intersection).

The course is known for being flat and is regarded as one of the country's "easiest courses to set a PB." In 2026, more than 4,000 runners ran sub-3 hours at the Chongqing Marathon, making it the second-highest event in the first half of the year after Wuxi.

Runners can register via the Chongqing Marathon official website (www.cqmarathon.com) or the "Chongqing Marathon" or "Chongqing Chongma Sports" WeChat public accounts.

Over the past three years the Chongqing Marathon's lottery acceptance rate has been, truly, "a ticket is hard to come by":

2024: About 170,000 applicants, 151,662 full marathon registrations, lottery acceptance rate only 3.98%;

2025: 221,436 applicants, 215,116 full marathon registrations, acceptance rate 7.29%;

2026: 266,358 applicants (a record high), 233,249 full marathon registrations, acceptance rate 4.29%, roughly 23 people vying for 1 spot.

Competition is expected to remain fierce in 2027.

How do you think your luck will be in this year's lottery? Set your alarm for September 2 — see you on the registration website!