Whether for the tough competition, fitness or fun, the coming annual Beijing International Marathon poses a great opportunity for restless runners to go through their paces this autumn in Beijing.

The long-established Beijing International Marathon will take place on October 19. First staged in 1981, the annual event has become the most popular and premiere marathon in China and gained recognition as an influential and traditional international event ranked in the top 10 in the world.

The carefully selected course, agreeable weather and prizes have made the race more attractive among marathon men and women.

Organized by the Chinese Athletic Association (CAA), sanctioned by the State Sport General Administration of China and the Beijing Municipal Government, the marathon was initiated as a rather formal competition contested by well-trained professional runners. The best time recorded at the Beijing International Marathon was 2:07'35, which was achieved by Kodama Taisuke of Japan in 1986 and again by Abebe Mekonnen of Ethiopia in 1988.

Aiming to attract more people to run the event, the organizer has set a closing time of five hours since 1998. In addition to the standard marathon, a half-marathon, 10km run and mini-marathon have been introduced. Last year, over 10,000 participants from 38 countries and regions worldwide took part in the event.

The race will start from Tian'anmen Square at 8:31 am, running through Xicheng, Haidian and Chaoyang districts and finishing at the National Olympic Sports Centre.

The coming race is made up of a standard marathon of 42.195 km as well as half-marathon (21.0975km) and 10km and mini-marathon of five kilometres.

For the standard marathon, participants are required to be over 18 years old while the shorter-distance runs can accept runners as young as 13 years old. Specially invited marathon runners and Chinese registered runners in the CAA will be put in the first phalanx on the starting line, followed by other participants who will be arranged in alphabetic order of depending on where they are from. Other short-distance runners will be set after the standard marathon runners.

All the participants will be given a number tag, a souvenir T-shirt and clothes bag and those finishing the race within the set time will be awarded a special memorial certificate.

Registration is available until October 10. The registration fee for foreign runners is US$60 and for those failing to sign up before the deadline, charge will be US$100 per person.

Foreigners are required to register with China Travel Service. People can call 6461-2572 or visit www.ctsho.com for details, or contact the organizer at 6710-0791.

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