half marathon recap: Tian Zhong Marathon 田中馬拉松 2024

I know this is a freediving blog, but some of us also run occasionally. I don't really run that much nowadays, only the usual 5K every now and then. I try to join a race once a year, and for this year it's the famous Tian Zhong Marathon (田中馬拉松).

It is held annually in Tian Zhong, a city in Changhua, Taiwan, which is Taiwan's rice heaven due to its rice production. But what makes this marathon really famous is its food. Local people are extremely enthusiastic and prepare a bunch of different local dish or food at every water station. I heard there were even lobster and steak in the previous race. People say you must be really lucky to enter this marathon, and the marathon route itself isn't very demanding.

At first, I wanted to enter the full marathon, but when I saw the cut-off time of 6 hours and 10 minutes, I was like, "Nah..." I'd definitely try it out if it were 7 hours and I didn't have any freediving comp in the week after. So my family and I signed up as a team; we heard it's easier to get the ballot if you register as a team and as a foreigner. And we really got in.

As usual, I'm gonna wing it. I have never wanted to get a personal best; I run to enjoy the race and the location itself. That's why I rarely do races in Indonesia. I've run full marathons in Berlin, Osaka, and Rotterdam, never in Indonesia. I'm probably going to run the Bali Marathon next year with a friend, but we'll see.

Tian Zhong itself is a small town, and there's not much accommodation nearby. Luckily, my uncle is kind enough to drive us to the starting line from Taichung so early in the morning. It was around a 45-minute drive to get there.

When we arrived to the marathon area, it was packed with people. There were more than 10.000 people in total according to the official website, coming from all over Taiwan.

Skipping to the race part, to my surprise, every water station is full of food. Fruits obviously is available in every water station, like watermelon, banana, guava, even those tiny tomatoes. Salt is also available next to the fruits, alongside with water and electrolytes.

Even the locals prepared their own food to support the athletes. Some prepared grilled pork, roasted chicken, and my favorite ones: grilled tofu skin and fried sweet potato balls. I even ate double portions of 維力炸醬麵, my favorite instant noodles back in my university days. For the drinks I snatched some coffee and beer. There was some whiskey but I skipped it, I want to finish my race not getting drunk.

Here are some pictures and videos from the race. Some of them are really shaky, so I apologize in advance.

Click here for the pictures.

Apparently, the half marathon was 22.6K, not 21K as usual, and I finished in around 3 hours. Not sure if that was my best time, but I sure ate a lot, and I really recommend this race. Here's the race medal.