As the first World Athletics Platinum Label road race of 2026, the Xiamen Marathon kicked off on Sunday at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center. A total of 35,000 runners from 38 countries and regions raced along the beautiful Island Ring Road. Last year's champions, Ethiopia's Dawit Wolde Arega and Ruti Aga Sora, successfully defended their titles with times of 2:09:18 and 2:22:45, respectively.

Yang Shaohui, last year's domestic men's champion, retained his title with a time of 2:11:14. Li Meizhen from Longyan set a personal best of 2:27:24 to win the domestic women’s race, marking the first time a Fujian athlete has claimed a full marathon title at the Xiamen Marathon.

This year marks the 24th edition of the event. For the first time in a domestic full marathon, the organizing committee implemented a wave start system with eight waves across 17 zones. The last runners set off 53 minutes after the first wave, making it the longest start in the event's history.