The 2026 Chongqing Marathon race day has been moved earlier, starting on January 18, and the wave and corral arrangement at the start has also gotten new changes. This year the Chongqing Marathon is divided into 7 zones and 6 gun waves. For the first time in its history, the gun time has been pushed back to 8:30. Aside from the invited elite S corral, the most noteworthy are the A++, A+, and A corrals, made up of nearly 7,500 runners who already have sub-3-hour ability or are close to sub-3 — these are the participants in the first three gun waves. Among them A++ corral（full marathon 2:49:48 and under, half marathon 1:19:54 and under）has as many as 2,000 runners,A+ zone (full marathon 2:57:01 or faster, half marathon 1:23:30 or faster) also has 2,500 runners. Up through the third gun in Wave A, 3,000 runners still meeta full marathon 3:02:18 or faster or a half marathon 1:26:09 or faster entry standard. These runners, in theory, will be aiming to break three hours, and this year the organizers also added pacers scheduled to finish within 3 hours, as many as 18 people, including two 4:00 pace pacers and four pacers scheduled for a 2:50 finishfour 4:10 pace pacers,and eight 3:00 finish pacers。 To helpparticipants in the A++, A+ and A corrals to get away quickly, the organizers this year have provided a warm-up area for runners in the first three waves, and all four lanes of Nanbin Road will be opened at the start. However, considering Chongqing Marathon is an out-and-back course, by the time the B corral starts the invited elite runners are expected to have already returned to the start area, so from the B corral onward the start will revert to the usual two lanes and runners will brush past the lead group earlier. That said, even if a runner in the fourth wave's B corral is a 3:23:26 road-running ace,if they don't have sub-4 ability, they'll basically have to start in the very last wave. Whether moving the race to the colder winter, refining the first three corrals, or adding a four-lane starting area, the organizers have done everything they can; for runners hoping to break three hours at the Chongqing Marathonyou could say all is set — only a favorable wind is missing. In 2025, there were about 6,000 entrants in the first two corrals of the Chongqing Marathon with qualifying times under 3:05 for the full marathon or 1:26 for the half marathon; ultimately 2,933 runners went sub-3. Next year's Chongqing Marathon has raised the bar again—nearly 7,500 runners are within 3:02—so it's likely that on January 18 next year another astonishing figure will appear before us. What do you think the final number will be?
