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May 5, 2024

Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.4

Organization 4.6

Spectators 4.7

Number of comments: 20 [displaying comments 11 to 20]

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L. M. from Los Angeles (4/22/2008) "A great race in a wonderful place" (about: 2008) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Just completed the Nagano Marathon, which I selected as my first international marathon after reading reviews here. As stated, the course is relatively flat. There are some longer ups and downs, but nothing too tough. There was a decent headwind in the last 5 miles that was probably less severe in reality but magnified in my mind by it happening at mile 21. I finished 4 minutes off of my PR of 3:19 (but 13 ahead of my previous 2nd best time - 3:36 at MCM). Organization was super. There was a specific registration table for international participants (about 200 this year of the 6,500 in the race; and 65 of the 200 were in one group from Taiwan). Racers are grouped in corrals to the start that seem to relate to expected finishing times. Instructions and announcements are in Japanese (of course) and English. Food along the way is readily available. Post-race food was light (a yummy rice and seaweed packet) and a sports drink. There is a festival where you can buy food. You get a finisher's towel (no medal for non-winners). The people were great. Bag recovery was easy and quick. Ample toilets along the way (mostly in the various Olympic stadiums that are part of the course). We stayed outside Nagano in Hakuba at an inn where the manager was also running the race, which was very nice. It's an hour by bus into town, but it's worth it to be in the mountains. The town itself has a nice, old temple to see and tons of great soba (Japanese pasta) restaurants.
Dennis Zaborac from Seattle, USA (4/22/2007) "Great Marathon" (about: 2007) 4-5 previous marathons \| 2 Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 You couldn't ask for a better marathon to run. I came to Japan to to get to Boston. With all the support of the the Japanese crowds I finally qualified for Boston at age 58. The course is flat and fast, and the weather for the last two years has been perfect. ARIGATO, Japan!
Sumi Jones from USA (4/21/2007) "Wonderful marathon, and a great way to see Nagano!" (about: 2007) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 We did the Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon at the end of our vacation to Japan, and it was one of the best things we did there! Nagano is great city - much smaller than Tokyo obviously, but very relaxed, foreigner-friendly and pretty, with plenty to see and do. The marathon was extremely well organized; also, the website and all pre-race instructions were clearly explained in English, so we had no trouble booking a hotel, registering, or getting to the start line. The course itself was a great way to see Nagano: we ran through the city for about half of the marathon; the other half was through pear and apple orchards, along a river and with the Japanese alps in the background. The sakura trees were also still in near full bloom. The spectator support was fantastic, with people completely lining the streets in the city, and frequent spectators even in the more rural areas. The course was flat and easy, making for a fast race (unless you are exhausted from sightseeing for 10 days beforehand, like we were!). The weather was gorgeous: sunny, about 40F at the start and 60F at the end. I would love to go back to Japan and run this race again, and would highly recommend it to any runner who is visiting Japan, or happens to be in Japan.
Terry C. from Tokyo, Japan (4/17/2006) "Thye Nagano Marathon Rocks!" (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The race started out in the city with lots of cheering people on both sides of the street. There were whole youth baseball teams in uniform cheering as well as elderly people all saying, "Fight - go - ganbate!" There were plenty of well spaced water stops and lots of staff to assist runners that could not make it. The finish had tyco drummers and even more cheering people. Good course + great weather + nice people = great race!
E. S. from Shanghai, China (5/5/2005) "Good course, lots of fans, no shade" (about: 2005) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was my second marathon after the 2003 NYC marathon. Nagano was definitely a good experience. Well organized and a flat course, the race was a good training marathon for more races I plan to do later in the year. The field was pretty amazing and inspiring - just over 6,000 (although I noticed that only 4,000 made the 5-hour cutoff). I was impressed by how many older marathoners there were - a large part of the field looked to be in their 60s or older. There were a lot of spectators, however toward the latter parts of the race when support would have been good, they became almost completely quiet. Other gripes are that the course, while flat, was not exactly easy. There is no shade at all the whole way, and I wound up with a bad sunburn on a warm but not hot day. Also, there was a strong headwind for the last 10K that succeeded in lifting the topsoil from the farms we ran by - not too much fun to be eating dirt when you are just struggling through the last parts of the race. Overall though, this was a good race. The little league team all dressed in their uniforms at the 12K mark waiting to high-five passersby brought a big smile to my face, as did the screaming schoolgirls at the 25K mark. Was also nice to see some people waving American flags - not really used to seeing openly friendly attitudes towards the US of A these days. The Nagano Marathon is definitely worth checking out if you are based in Japan, and maybe hopping over if you are based in East Asia.
Alexander Matskevich from New York (5/5/2005) "Nagano spectators were fantastic!!!" (about: 2005) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The course was probably not the most exciting, but I didn't see it. Many years ago I read that the Japanese fans are strange. They just wave the flags in total silence. Almost a surreal experience. As soon as I started, I couldn't believe my eyes, and ears. They were cheering so well, so loud, so enthusiastically, and there were so many of them. As a result, I was running constantly looking at their smiling faces, screaming 'Arigatoo' to their 'Gambatte!' (good luck) and smiling back to them. The Nagano fans can be compared only to NY, and are probably even better than in Boston. A lot of spectators were old people, many on wheelchairs, waving and screaming with no less enthusiasm than their younger countrymen and women. I wish the weather was a bit cooler, but it all depends on luck, and this year the marathon day was rather warm while a day earlier and the next day were cooler. Still, I enjoyed the Nagano Marathon very much, especially its great spectators.
Laura Carlson from Stow, MA (4/30/2004) "Great course, well organized, & lots of fans" (about: 2004) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 It was an amazing place for a marathon. Great time of year, beautiful scenery, and a great course. I was especially impressed with how well organized the event was and the number of fans on the sidelines. I was smiling and nodding my head to the cheers until the last 10k when all I could concentrate on was putting one step in front of the other. The drums were an added bonus. It was a bit warm during the run and the last few kilometers seemed to stretch into a never-ending farmland for a while there, but the water/sports drink stations kept me going. Overall, a great day. I will definitely consider doing it again next year!
A Runner from Cornwall, New York, USA (6/30/2002) "Cherry Blossom Marathon Olympic Style" (about: 2002) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The marathon started at the Olympic Memorial Torch Platform in Yamanouch Town. It was a picture perfect starting-overlooking beautiful mountains surrounding the town. The first 10 KM was all downhill along the most beautiful cherry blossoms. The rest of the course was mostly flat and fast. However, there was no shade at all, it felt hotter than 18.5 degrees C. from the running on asphalt after a couple of hours. But, there were plenty of water and sports drinks at each refreshment station to cool me off, Japanese drummers to keep my pace, and enthusiastic 140,000 spectators. Eventually, I finished at Olympic Memorial Stadium. This race was organized with the OLYMPIC TOUCH. Among some 5,000 runners, there were 15 elite runners from Africa, Greece, Poland, Russia, and China besides 14 Japanese invited runners.The whole race was broadcasted live on TV and a radio station. I got to watch reruns on TV at 2 AM at Sunroute Hotel. There were fun cultural activities and ceremonies before and after the marathon. As a vacation marathoner, I went for the full effect-welcoming activites-Japanese drum playing and Japanese dancing at the registration desk at Big Hat, Nagano train station, opening ceremony, and farewell party (must-if you love great food and saki) at Hotel Kokusai. There were English interpreters at formal ceremonies. It was a GREAT way to see and experience Japan! The Japan Travel Bureau did a good job in making foreign tourist-runners welcome!
A Runner from english in singapore (6/17/2002) "Fantastic" (General Comments) COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 So many spectators it became tiring to continuously high-five them all the way round! They cheer you on all the way round and really helped. Didn't find the weather too bad, although the downhill incline the first 5km or so may be a little tough on the knees. Beautiful course though, and a nice town to stay in for the weekend. I'm going back next year and looking forward to it already.
A Runner from Idaho State (5/1/2001) "I ran the Nagano Marathon" (General Comments) COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The people were lined up, it seemed, the entire 26.2 miles. The course became hot however. We started the race at 9:05 a.m. So, by 11:00 the road was hot. Luckily there was a lot of water stations. The race was extremely well organized and I used the Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) to assist with travel. I would definitely do this event again. Course overall is flat and finishes inside the Main Olympic Stadium. GO FOR IT!

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