The National Highway Marathon registration press conference will be held today (photo by reporter Wu Mengru)
[Reporter Wu Mengru/Taipei Report] The 2027 Nanshanren Taipei National Highway Marathon will start on March 7, 2027 on the elevated national highway, and registration will be officially opened at 2:00 this afternoon! A total of 9,000 entries are open for this event. This year, there are two major highlights. The prize money for the elite marathon group has been upgraded, with the total prize money raised to NT$400,000. The "four-person driving group" calls on college athletes to form a team to compete, setting off a national inter-school relay competition. Yang Yongcheng, a middle-distance runner who studied at National Taiwan Sports University, believes that this is a bit like Japan's Hakone Ekiden, vowing to defeat the National Sports University and Taiwan Normal University.
The "four-person driving team" that was first launched last year and was well received is back this year. The conference specially calls on runners from all colleges and universities to form teams to participate. The "College and College 4×5,000-meter Relay Team" is planned to be limited to 30 teams. From running teams of principals to college students who love road running, everyone can sign up to start interschool racing through a four-person relay and compete for the honor of the fastest team on the national road. The four-person driver team adopts a relay team of 4 people. The first runner must be female, and each person runs about 5 kilometers. In addition to campus athletes, the "General Group" also welcomes running groups from all over the world and friends and relatives to join the challenge; the "Healthy Enterprise Group" encourages corporate colleagues to join hands to form teams so that runners from different backgrounds can enjoy the track.
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Yang Yingcheng attended the press conference today and said that compared to running relay races on the field, being able to complete the relay on the national highway is a very different experience. It feels a bit like Hakone Ekiden. At that time, the strongest team will be formed to compete with all kinds of experts.
Guo Jiecheng, a good player from Yangming Jiaotong University in the second group, did not start practicing track and field until he was in college. He once won the 3000-meter obstacle course championship in the general category of the Universiade. His best time in the half-marathon was 75 minutes, and the full marathon was also 2 hours and 39 minutes. He is also looking forward to the opportunity to run on national roads.
This year, the prize money for the elite racing marathon group has been increased. The total prize money has been increased from NT$234,000 last year to NT$400,000, an increase of more than 70%. It has become one of the most watched highlights of this event. The organizer hopes that by increasing the size of the prize money for the elite racing marathon group, it will show its importance to Taiwan's long-distance runners and further enhance the attraction of the event on the domestic marathon competition stage.
In addition to increasing the prize money, this year's elite marathon category has also moderately relaxed the competition threshold for the women's category, allowing more runners with long-distance running capabilities to have the opportunity to stand on the national highway. The elite racing marathon group has a limit of 500 people, and runners are encouraged to seize the opportunity to challenge their personal best times. With the increase in prize money and the adjustment of competition thresholds, we are also looking forward to attracting more capable runners to gather on national highways, compete on the same field, show the results of their daily training, and strive to challenge for good results.
The National Highway Marathon registration press conference will be held today (photo by reporter Wu Mengru)
