In order to promote fall-winter sports tourism, the Penghu National Scenic Administration of the Tourism Bureau, under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, held the 3rd Gaillardia Islands Penghu Cross-sea Marathon starting from West Fort Visitor's Center Square in Siyu Township at 6:30 am on November 3, 2019. The event this year was themed as "Beyond the Wind", expressing how runners ran against the gusts in Penghu. The beautiful scenery, unique town characteristics, local delicacies, and hospitality of Penghu were promoted to the world, hoping to attract more domestic and foreign visitors to enhance Taiwan's visibility in the world.
 
The sky was barely lit in the early morning and the northeast monsoon was still blowing, but all runners were still enthusiastic. West Fort Visitor's Center in Siyu Township was already full of participants. Many of them were families and friends who came together to celebrate the event. The site was full of the locals who came to cheer and 300 contestants from 20 countries, 1,775 participants from Taiwan Island, and 1,154 local runners. A total of 3,229 participants from home or abroad joined the event together, a 7% increase compared with last year's event. It was estimated that the overall number of tourists in Penghu from September to the end of October would increase by 14.96% over the same period of last year and reach another new peak by the end of December, fully demonstrating the charm and attractiveness of diverse looks of Pescadores Islands. Runners could personally explore the town views on the islands, further driving the innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship in local tourism and bringing more marathon fans from Taiwan and other countries to experience the beauty of Penghu.
 
Minister of State without Portfolio of the Executive Yuan, Ching-Sen Chang, Director-General Yung-Hui Chou of the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Deputy County Mayor Chih-Fu Hsu, Secretary Chi-Yao Hsu of Siyu Township, Mayor of Magong City, Chu-Lin Yeh, Chairman Kuo-Cheng Hsu of the Representatives of Magong City, and Director Tsung-Min Hsu of the Penghu National Scenic Area Administration were invited to the event to fire the starting pistols. The competition was also the finale of the "Autumn Festival" series organized by the Penghu National Scenic Area Administration. Lisa Ries, who had once broken the record time at the National Middle School Athletic Games and has continued to challenge herself, was invited to be the event ambassador. Eve Ai, a winner in the Golden Melody Award competition who has continued to seek her breakthrough in her singing career, was also invited to be the finale singer of the concert.
 
Already in its third year, the competition is an IAAF-AIMS certified course. The marathon featured a one-way course held on a domestic outlying island which enables runners to appreciate the beautiful sky and ocean view of Penghu, and there were 18 themed aid stations offering local street foods, where participants could stop to eat. There were also 21 cheerleading teams on site to entertain visitors. After the running event, a flea market and music concert were held for visitors to have fun. Participants experienced the culture, attractions, and magnificent ocean view through their running and all senses.
 
Director Tsung-Min Hsu of Penghu National Scenic Area Administration said that the 2019 Gaillardia Islands Penghu Cross-sea Marathon was the finale of the Penghu Autumn Festival. Already in its third year, the event has been well received, and a lot of efforts have been put into the course planning, theme creation, and gift design. The ideals of sustainability and environmental protection were incorporated into the preparation for this year's event, and both the uniforms and water cups provided by the event had to align with the ideal of sustainability. Gaillardia Islands Penghu Cross-sea Marathon is expected to become a well-known and must-go-to international competition to be held every year.
 
The Gaillardia Islands Penghu Cross-sea Marathon this year wanted runners to "Beyond the Wind", running against the northeast monsoon and challenging themselves and appreciating the boundless blue ocean and sky view. Along the A-to-B one-way course, participants were able to see many famous attractions, such as the oldest lighthouse within the border of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu Islands - Yuwongdao Lighthouse, the magnificent Daguoye Columnar Basalt, Erkan Historic Village, Mount Niusin, and Penghu Trans-Oceanic Bridge. Runners could certainly have an extraordinary experience during the trip to view the coastal scenery of Penghu.
 
The 3rd Gaillardia Islands Penghu Cross-sea Marathon had a total prize worth NT$90,000 to be given out to the winners of the 42 km, 21 km, 5 km and full-marathon relay team groups. Miyazaki, Tadakatsu (Japan) won first place in the men's 42 km group with a completion time of 02: 58: 07. Cheung Hoi Wah Sarah won first place in the women's 42 km group with 03: 41: 38. Lin-Hung Hung won first place in the men's 21 km group with 01: 25: 02. Lisa Ries won first place in the women's 21 km group with 01: 37: 13. The top five full-marathon relay teams were presented with trophies, and the top three finishers in the 5 km group were offered souvenirs by the organizer.
 
Besides the efforts put into the professionalism of the competition, rich contents were added to the auxiliary services and activities. The team members of Ironmedic, who had medical backgrounds and rich marathon participation experience, were invited to accompany runners so they could run with peace of mind. An all-new App which tracks runners real-time was introduced to the event, so the runners' families could follow the runners' status at all times and also feel the tension brought by the competition. Upon reaching the destination, runners could use the App to immediately check their performance and rankings. The music concert after the competition featured Eve Ai, a winner in the Golden Melody Award competition, to be the finale singer of the concert. She performed four popular songs and invited all concert attendees to sing with her and enjoy the 2019 Gaillardia Islands Penghu Cross-sea Marathon together. The performance perfectly closed out the finale for the Autumn Festival activity this year, and she encouraged the participants to come and meet again on November 1, 2020.