Great Wall Marathon

17 May 2025

Fast Facts

Read below to learn some key figures, such as what records there are to beat and the geographic composition of the race.

Standing Records

Distance Category Time Year Record Holder
21.1 KM Women 1:48:55 2011

Melanie Newton, AUS

 
21.1 KM Men 1:33:14 2002

Keith Matiskella, USA

 
42.2 KM Women 3:32:12 2013

Silvia Serafini, ITA

 
42.2 KM Men 3:09:18 2013

Jonathan Wyatt, NZL
Jorge Maravilla, USA
Dimitris Theodorakakos, GRC

 

 

Key Figures

5,146 Great Wall steps to climb in the marathon event

Over 25,000 runners since 1999

15,000+ bottles of water are carried on foot to the wall on race day

 

2019 Statistics

In total, 68 countries were represented at The Great Wall Marathon 2019.

The average time for the marathon was 5:59:33 for men and 6:29:23 for women.

Two runners at the age of 74 finished the marathon! The youngest marathon runner was 18 years old.

The oldest runner in our 8.5K Fun Run was 78 years old, whereas the youngest was 8 years old.

Mr. Henrik Brandt (DEN) is the only person to finish every Great Wall Marathon since 1999.