The inaugural race was held in 1996 as the "Shanghai International Citizen Marathon".[6]
For the 2020 edition of the race, due to the coronavirus pandemic, only the full marathon was run, the field was limited to 9,000 domestic runners, and the finish was moved to the West Bund Art Center.[3][2]
The men's course record was set in 2015 as Kenya's Paul Lonyangata of 2:07:14 hours and the Ethiopian Yebrgual Melese broke the women's record in 2018 with 2:20:36 hours.
^"Archived copy". www.worldathletics.org. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)