Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon - Race Reviews

Geared towards the Japanese runner market, but did offer some nice touches for foreign participants. Little chaotic at the start. Lots of entertainment on the route. Friendly enthusiastic supporters.

A little hard to secure accommodation but I got lucky. Spring weather was mild and the views of snow-capped mountains was memorable. The organizers provided complimentary train ride from Nagano to the start and buses from the finish back to Nagano (it's a point to point race), so do buffer enough time in your time management. I had no PR expectations other than to have a good time out on the course. Nagano is a small and cozy city to be visiting and I could be back again.

I was totally impressed with every aspect of this event. The fan support is like nothing I have ever seen. People everywhere and all kinds of entertainment! The course is fast and relatively flat. Weather was perfect. Since I was shooting for a PR (sub-3) time, I was concerned about the starting arrangement. I had read that foreigners are all placed in coral C, but that wasn't a big deal in my case. I didn't lose any time at the start and was actually surprised that so many people were going out very fast. One drawback is that if you do not speak Japanese (like me), you need to put in extra time planning and don't expect everything to be perfectly smooth. One tip - get to the start at least an hour before the start. I came about 45 min before and was a bit rushed figuring everything out. I got my PR easily and look forward to doing this race again.

The marathon course is relatively flat but not as flat as many reviews suggest otherwise. There is a slight incline the first 5K and several short but sharp inclines in the last 10k (bridges, etc). Many of the annoying inclines lead into turns so my pace dropped somewhat during these areas. Wunderground had 2014 Nagano marathon at 7 -10 degrees but it felt much warmer with the sun (i heard some people say it started at 12 and rose to 18). Definitely wear sunblock. There is a live band at the start and they move to the 25K? area at a later point. This year there was a beautiful finisher's medal as well as a nice big towel. The retro mesh tshirt is my favorite so far. At the end, you were given a nice wet towel to wipe off and there were massage tents too. Food was small, just a riceball and drink. The course is in the countryside, great air, mountains, etc, though I didn't pay too much attention.

This was my first international marathon. if anyone has run this, can you tell me how or if i can get pictures. Other marathons offer pictures to purchase after the event. I'm sad I have no pictures. Thank you.

I was one of only a handful of non-Japanese in this marathon, and not even a Japan resident, but I felt thoroughly welcome every step of the way. The crowd support was unbelievable, vocal and enthusiastic. Most things I needed to know were easy to figure out, like the bus to the expo and the train to the start line. I stayed at the Sunroute Hotel which was convenient and a reasonable price. The restaurants near the station are good and handle foreigners well. Altogether a great experience.

This was my first international marathon. It was hot. I even got a sunburn. Am I the only one who thinks this was not a flat and fast course? There were so many inclines which I wasn't expecting. But, overall it was a wonderful experience. The quietest and most conservative start I have ever been in. The people in Nagano are so nice. But, I could not figure out my time or placement.

Flat course, beautiful scenery in the background, an enthusiastic and supportive crowd lining the course, sufficient fueling stations and an epic finish in the olympic stadium makes Nagano the perfect destination to run a marathon. I ran a personal best and my first Boston qualifying time in the 2012 race and had such an incredible time that I am now debating whether to pursue my dream to run in Boston in 2013 or return to Nagano for a second straight year.

I'm not usually the foreigner who complains about people not being able to speak my language. However, when I had to drop out at the 30K-point due to a blown knee, I realized that none of the volunteers or medical staff could speak English (or any language other than Japanese). It took some high-level charades skills for me to convey the message that I needed to drop out - the first time I tried to alert volunteers/medical staff to my problem, they gave me some cold spray and shoved me on my way. Then, when I finally conveyed the message, I was brought to a medical tent where I pantomimed to the Japanese-speaking medical official that I had hurt my knee and could not finish. He taped it up which solved the problem for the time being, so I have no personal complaints. However, if someone happens to suffer from a more severe medical condition, such as a heart attack or hyponatremia (which is often confused with dehydration, with deadly results), I would be very concerned for their safety if they do not speak Japanese. There are a number of Cantonese speakers as well (being so close to Hong Kong), so I'd suggest that the race needs English, Cantonese and Japanese speakers for their medical staff. That is the only complaint. However, since it is a complaint which, in the case of someone else, might mean the difference between life and death (or proper immediate care and improper immediate care), I cannot recommend this marathon to anyone who does not speak Japanese. It also was very hot, about 25 degrees CELSIUS at the tail end of the race (and this is coming from a 3-hour marathoner). I understand that this was the hottest that the race has been in its 11-year history, but this is another argument to start the race at 7 a.m. and not 8:30. I was already feeling warm at 8:30 in my sports bra and shorts. While organizers can't control the weather, they can control the time the race starts. It is not humid, so early morning temperatures are quite pleasant and runners would rather run early than run hot!

This is a quality marathon, with 200 people breaking three hours. The course is almost completely flat, but it is also exposed (which means it can be windy) and not particularly pretty until the end when there is some nice scenery. There are plenty of fans pretty much everywhere, yelling, "Gambate" ("do your best"). The race is very well organized in the sense that things happen as and when planned. No problem getting registered, to the start or home from the finish, and your bag will be at the finish waiting for you. On the other hand, there is really no excuse for starting the race at 8:30 a.m. rather than, say, 7 a.m. And, there was very little to drink at the finish line. Grab a second bottle of sports drink before leaving the immediate finish area, or you will not get any more liquid until you buy it! Aid stations along the way were sufficient: sports drink, water and bananas every few miles. Split times are at 5K intervals and the halfway point. There are markers, but not times, at each 1K. There are also signs at each 1K to go in the race, starting at 5K to go. No mile splits or markers. The seeding at the start is poor. Runners from a Japanese club or association apparently get automatic seeding in the first 1,000 places, even though they may be four-hour marathoners. Foreigners seem to get intermediate treatment - they go in the second bin, regardless of time. That is great if you run four hours, but if you run three hours, you are starting behind a lot of slower runners. Foreigners also get a few other freebies, including an invite to the "farewell party," which was fun to watch and included decent food and drink.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!