gents play in the third Bundesliga (baseball) division.
The Hannover Marathon is the biggest running event in Hanover with more than 11.000 participants and usually around 200.000 spectators. Some other important running events are the Gilde Stadtstaffel (relay), the Sport-Check Nachtlauf (night-running), the Herrenh�user Team-Challenge, the Hannoversche Firmenlauf (company running) and the Silvesterlauf (sylvester running).
Hanover hosts also an important international cycle race: The Nacht von Hannover (night of Hanover). The race takes place around the Market Hall.
The lake Maschsee hosts the International Dragon Boat Races and the Canoe?Polo-Tournament. Many regattas take place during the year. Head of the river Leine on the river Leine is one of the biggest rowing regattas in Hanover.
Some other important sport events are the Lower Saxony Beach Volleyball Tournament, the international horse show German Classics and the international ice hockey tournament Nations Cup.
Hanover is one of the leading Exhibition Cities in the world. Each year Hanover hosts more than 60 international and national exhibitions. The most popular ones are the CeBIT, the Hanover Fair, the Domotex, the Ligna, the IAA Nutzfahrzeuge and the Agritechnica. Hanover also hosts a huge number of congresses.
But Hanover is not only one of the most important Exhibition Cities in the world, it is also one of the German capitals for marksmen. The Sch�tzenfest Hannover is the largest Marksmen's Fun Fair in the world and takes place once a year. It consists of more than 260 rides and inns, five large beer tents and a big entertainment programme. The highlight of this fun fair is the 12 kilometres (7 mi) long Parade of the Marksmen with more than 12.000 participants from all over the world, among them around 5.000 marksmen, 128 bands and more than 70 wagons, carriages and big festival vehicles. It is the longest procession in Europe. Around 2 million people
