# Macau Marathon

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.

## History

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.
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.
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.

## Course

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

## Sponsorship

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

## Participation

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).
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.

## Winners

Key:
    Course record (in bold)
    Held as half marathon
| Ed. | Year | Men's winner | Time | Women's winner | Time |
| 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 | Ehitu Kiros (ETH) | 2:50:10 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 40 | 2021 | Yang Shaohui (CHN) | 2:13:04 | Zhang Deshun (CHN) | 2:29:09 |

### Wins by country

| 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 |