EVA Air Marathon (Taipei): Dates, Tickets & Venue (Taipei)

A Sunday in late October

The 2026 edition falls on Sunday, October 25. That puts it in Taipei’s autumn, after the worst of the summer heat, when the city’s running calendar is at its busiest.

EVA Air, the Taiwanese airline headquartered at Taoyuan, gives the race its name. The marathon has run every year since 2018, so it is a young event next to Asia’s older city races. It has still settled into a regular slot in the international calendar.

Four distances on one morning

You do not have to be a marathoner to take part. The programme covers four races:

• Full marathon: the 42.195km headline event.
• Half marathon: 21.1km, the distance many visiting runners choose for a first race abroad.
• 10km: a fast, compact option for anyone who still wants the afternoon free.
• 3km: a short fun run that families and casual entrants usually treat as a city walk with a medal at the end.

Because every distance happens on the same day, the start area is shared by elite runners, office teams and parents pushing strollers. The full marathon field generally goes first and the shorter races follow it. The start times and wave order for each distance are set by the organiser, and the official race site is where they live.

Where the course goes

Taipei is a flat basin ringed by green hills. That shape makes it friendlier to runners than its mountain backdrop suggests.

Long races here tend to use the city’s broad boulevards and the riverside parks along the Tamsui and Keelung rivers. Those parks line much of the city’s edge with cycle paths and open lawns. The exact start, finish and route for 2026 come from the organiser, and the course map is on the race’s official site.

Wherever the start line sits, the Taipei Metro (MRT) is how most runners get there. Its colour-coded lines reach almost every district, and stations are signed in English as well as Chinese.

The basin in the last week of October

Late October weather is the thing that makes this race. Taipei’s summer is long and heavy with humidity. By the end of October the air has usually cooled to the low or mid-20s Celsius during the day.

It is not reliably dry, though. This is the point in the year when the northeast monsoon starts bringing grey skies and light drizzle to northern Taiwan. Humidity also stays high by European or North American standards.

Runners who train in cool climates usually treat it as a warm race:

• They drink at the aid stations from the first kilometres, not only when thirst arrives.
• They pack a light rain shell or a disposable poncho for the wait at the start.
• They keep a dry change of clothes in their bag-drop bag.

Cheering, queuing and paying on race morning

Taipei’s race mornings follow a few unwritten rules. Knowing them makes the day smoother.

Getting around. Most locals tap through the MRT gates with an EasyCard, a stored-value card sold and topped up at station machines and convenience stores. It also works at 7-Eleven and FamilyMart, which is handy for a post-race drink. Eating and drinking are banned inside MRT stations and trains, so finish your banana on the platform steps outside.

Queuing. Taiwanese commuters line up in marked lanes on the platform and let people off before boarding. On race morning the carriages fill with runners in bibs, and the same order holds.

Cheering. The word you will hear from the roadside is jiayou (加油), literally “add oil”, meaning “keep going”. Shouting it back at volunteers and spectators gets a smile every time.

Paying. Tipping is not part of everyday life in Taiwan, at restaurants or anywhere else. Small breakfast shops and night-market stalls usually take cash. Larger restaurants and chains generally accept cards.

After the finish: soy milk, noodles and hot water

Taipei’s breakfast culture suits a tired runner well. Traditional breakfast shops serve warm doujiang (soy milk) with youtiao (fried dough sticks) and shaobing (flaky sesame flatbread). Many close by late morning, which suits a finish line crossed before noon.

Later in the day, beef noodle soup is the classic recovery meal. Yongkang Street, near Dongmen Station on the red and orange lines, is known for it. The original Din Tai Fung on Xinyi Road, famous for its soup dumplings, is on the same stretch.

For aching legs, locals head north to Beitou. Xinbeitou Station sits on a short branch of the red line, and the area’s hot-spring baths are a long-standing Taipei tradition. At the public bathhouses there, bathers shower before getting in, and some bathhouses have their own swimwear rules.

Turning one race into a long weekend

Most visiting runners fly into Taoyuan International Airport, EVA Air’s home base. The Taoyuan Airport MRT connects it to Taipei Main Station, and many visitors stay around that hub because so many metro lines meet there.

The days either side of the race leave room for the city’s landmarks:

• Taipei 101 and the Xinyi district, at Taipei 101/World Trade Center Station on the red line.
• Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan), a short, steep stair climb with a classic view of the tower. Many runners save it for the day before the race, not the day after.
• Longshan Temple in Wanhua, beside Longshan Temple Station on the blue line.
• Shilin or Raohe night markets for an evening of street food.

In late October, Taipei is cool enough to explore on foot all day. That is half the reason runners come to race here.