Fancy running under the beautiful sakura trees? This marathon gives you the chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Sakura trees. This is one of the strong reason which I decided to join this race after looking through all the possibility of joining other races in Taiwan.
Registration and Application
Signing up for the race is not that easy unless you stay in Taiwan and has access to make payment for the race using the IBON services in 7-1 1 or Taiwanese bank transfer. Signing up was not that difficult, this is provided if you are also able to write and read Mandarin. The registration form are mainly in Mandarin ( not simplified as in Taiwan, they still use the old style Mandarin writing). However, the organisers were really helpful , they will keep in contact with you should you have any queries, that really helps. They will also try to reply you in English if necessary.
The Scenery along the way Stage set up at the start point
The Race
Never knew that Taipei will be this cold in March. But it was, still going at 12 degrees celcius in the morning. It felt like I was in Tokyo. It doesn’t help that the weather has been rainy. Just like the Taipei I used to know when I was young. Took the early train to Dan Shui and changed to the organiser bus there. It was not difficult to spot the buses, as most runners were heading the same way. Something about the Taiwanese runners, they seem to have homogenous bags, and the bags come with a tag area for them to put their personal detail. I seem to be the only odd ball out with a small backpack. The Northern part of Taipei when rainy can be so rainy all the time. The place was windy as it was near the coast too. The baggage drop was nothing but simply a tentage. You will have to put your bag into a big plastic bag and label it with the baggage drop tag. Of course, those with the special bags do not have to go through the tagging.
SO in the very cold state ( at least for me) , I packed up my stuff , took my last toilet break ( too cold). And off I went, it was really kinda fast even though the flag off was 8am. But I guess it is normal to flag off that late in the Winter Spring time. This was the same for Tokyo marathon and Marathon Du Medoc.
The Route was not that bad but the rain was the killer and I had to brave it all. The worse was the winding roads in the beginning and it was all up up up hill. But once you finished all the uphills, it was all all rather smooth. Towards the end, there was almost no inclination. But the drips and drapes of small drizzles here and there can be quite a killer. It was unexpected as the past few year, the weather was good.
Sakura
Yes the sakrua are still in bloom. Along the way runners could see all the Sakura blooming and looking fresh. But the rain had washed some of the petals down. But other than that, the view was rather good.
Rainy day
All at the start point drenched
Race info board
The simple start point
But there were sakura
Entitlement
I did not know that the top 6 positions can receive an award, as such, I was taking my rather own sweet time to finish the race. The race took me about 4:36 hours. Runners were given the finisher towel, medal, a traditional Taiwanese bento and many hydration drinks. Of course the standard is the banana and other fruits. BUT I exceptionally love the bring home bag, which is big and able to hold all my items. The finisher’s medal was unique and beautiful.
Finisher Medal
Podium runners of course get to await more goodies for them. Overall the organisation is good and for a full marathon, there were not many female marathoners, making it a higher chance for podium. There were actually not many people joining the full marathon. It might be due to the rain. But however, I enjoyed myself making friends with fellow runners around the world. Their 2017 edition will be opening soon, do keep a look our for it！
Do check out their official marathon page :Sanzhi Sakura Marathon