Sun Moon Lake Marathon

The marathon takes place each year at the beautiful Sun Moon Lake which is in the foothills of Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range. I arrived there a day before and enjoyed bicycle riding along the lake in the afternoon. In the evening, I watched the cultural performance by locals. The curvy track have lush green tall-trees alongside, making it one of the most pleasant running tracks in the world. But the last 3km had very high elevation. I was almost crawling. But, the awesome arrangement and beautiful scenic view of the lake made the overall experience pleasant. Energy drink, water, salt, sugar, chocolates and many fruits were placed at several locations. Considering the number of participants, there was sufficient number of urinals along the track for emergency nature call. The race kit was also worth the money. The innovative finisher medal was made up of colored glass. It can only be reached by bus or taxi or by rented bike. Not by train. I have trouble travelling by bus or taxi. So, I did not enjoyed taking 4 hrs bus from Taipei to reach there. However, while returning I took 1hr 45 mins bus to the nearest city(Taichung) with train service and then boarded express train to Taipei. Overall, it's worth joining at least once.

For the first time I came to know about 29k category in road run. You can call it ultra half marathon. It is a wonderful choice for those who loves running at natural places or are targeting to run a full marathon in near future.