Nagano Marathon

Course & Elevation

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.