長野マラソン
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Apr 18, 2027
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The Nagano Marathon is a point-to-point road marathon in Nagano, Japan, held on a Sunday in mid-April to commemorate the 1998 Winter Olympics. It started in 1999 as the Nagano Olympic Commemorative Nagano Marathon and took its current name in 2015. The race is organised by the Japanese Olympic Committee, Japan Association of Athletics Federations, Nagano Prefecture, Nagano City and the Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, with NHK as co-organiser. The start gun goes at 8:30 am at Nagano Sports Park in Yoshida, and the course, certified by the athletics federation and AIMS, finishes in the Nagano Olympic Stadium in Shinonoi. Runners pass the approach to Zenkoji temple and several facilities from the 1998 Games on the way. The limit is five hours, with nine checkpoint closures roughly every 5 km, and runners must be at least 18. The cap is about 10,000 entrants, and entry closes when it is reached. The men's course record is 2:09:05 by Francis Kibiwott of Kenya in 2012, and the women's record is 2:24:55 by Elfinesh Alem of Ethiopia, set in 2000. The 2026 edition was part of the national MGC Series.
Typical climate for the race month — an estimate, not a forecast or a race-day record
Mid-April in Nagano averages a high of about 17°C and a low of about 5°C, with rain on around ten days of the month.
The Race
Nagano
The Nagano Marathon was first held on 18 April 1999 to preserve the memory of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. Jackson Kabiga of Kenya won the first men's race in 2:13:26 and Valentina Yegorova of Russia the women's in 2:28:41. It was billed as the first large mass-participation marathon in Japan to carry the Olympic name.
Elfinesh Alem of Ethiopia set the women's course record of 2:24:55 at the second edition in 2000. After the 2011 race was cancelled, Francis Kibiwott of Kenya won in 2:09:05 in 2012 to set the men's record, while his wife Pauline Wangui won the women's race, the first time a married couple had both won.
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02:09:05
Francis Kibiwott (2012)
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