Okayama Marathon Has Record-Breaking Economic Impact on Local Community

On Feb. 5 the organizing committee of last November's 2018 Okayama Marathon announced that the event brought a record 1,580,000,000 yen [~$14.5 million USD] into the local economy. Compared to the 2017 edition the race's economic impact increased by 110,000.000 yen [~$14.5 million USD] thanks in part to a larger number of runners from overseas and beautiful weather that brought out more spectators along the course. The race's 5th running is scheduled for Nov. 10 this year.

16,547 runners took part in last year's Okayama Marathon and fun run, and factoring in visitors to the event venue, volunteers and others, a total of roughly 293,000 people participated, an increase of 8000 over 2017. Based on 2065 valid responses to a participants' survey, runners spent a total of 1,040,000,000 yen [~$9.5 million USD] locally on food and accommodations, an increase of 80,000,000 yen [~$750,000 USD]. Visitors from outside Okayama prefecture spent an average of 23,624 yen [~$225 USD], an increase of 2360 yen [~$24 USD] per person.

According to leading race entry site Runnet, over 7000 participants in the 2018 edition ranked the Okayama Marathon the #1 marathon in the country, rating it highly on items such as flatness of the course and quality of refreshment stations. The 2019 edition will have a maximum field size of 15,000, with the number of entries reserved for international runners increased from 100 to 250. The 5.6 km fun run field size has also been increased by 100 to 1400 participants.

source article:
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO40928930V00C19A2LC0000/
translated by Brett Larner