Skip to main content

Nov. 8 Okayama Marathon Canceled - 13,491 Finishers Last Year



Scheduled for Nov. 8, the 2020 Okayama Marathon has been canceled due to the coronavirus crisis. We carefully considered whether we could safely hold a race that brings together 16,400 runners from across the country and determined that it would not be possible to complete eliminate the risk of infection to the runners, staff, volunteers, and spectators along the road.

It is very disappointing to have to convey this news to everyone who had been looking forward to our race, runners, citizens of Okayama prefecture, our supporters across the country, sponsors, partner organizations and everyone else involved with our event, but we thank you and ask for your understanding. We will work to improve the Okayama Marathon so that we can make it an even better and more enjoyable event the next time we are able to put it on. Thank you all.

Okayama Marathon Organizing Committee

Translator's note: Along with Okayama, the Oct. 11 Niigata City Marathon with 6,784 finishers last year, announced its cancelation today. The current state of Japan's 27 main marathons, those with 5,000 or more finishers or elite-level winning times, from October through December, representing almost 285,000 finishers total in their last editions, and 2 new races with fields of 7,000 and 10,000:

Oct. 4: Tohoku Miyagi Fukko Marathon (7,457) - scheduled
Oct. 4: Matsumoto Marathon (6,455)- canceled
Oct. 11: Niigata City Marathon (6,784) - canceled
Oct. 18: Chiba Aqualine Marathon (9,541) - canceled
Oct. 25: Kanazawa Marathon (10,408) - canceled
Oct. 25: Mito Komon Marathon (9,995) - canceled
Oct. 25: Shimada Oikawa Marathon (6,589) - canceled
Oct. 25: Iwate Morioka City Marathon (5,729) - scheduled
Nov. 1: Yokohama Marathon (25,195) - canceled
Nov. 1: Toyama Marathon (12,603) - entries suspended until early June
Nov. 1: Shimonoseki Kaikyo Marathon (8,650) - canceled
Nov. 8: Okayama Marathon (13,491) - canceled
Nov. 8: Fukuoka Marathon (11,349) - canceled
Nov. 8: Ibigawa Marathon (5,818) - canceled
Nov. 15: Kobe Marathon (19,444) - scheduled, lottery results TBA on June 16
Nov. 22: Tsukuba Marathon (11,461) - canceled
Nov. 23: Fukuchiyama Marathon (6,429) - entries suspended until late June
Nov. 23: Ohtawara Marathon (1,697) - canceled
Nov. 29: Osaka Marathon (31,594) - entries suspended
Nov. 29: Fujisan Marathon (7,200) - entries suspended until late June
Nov. 29 Nagasaki Peace marathon (1st running, field of 10,000) - canceled
Dec. 6: Shonan International Marathon (16,821) - entries suspended
Dec. 6: Naha Marathon (14,660) - entries suspended until August
Dec. 6: Fukuoka International Marathon (370) - TBA
Dec. 13: Saitama International Marathon (13,340) - canceled
Dec. 13: Nara Marathon (11,137) - entries suspended
Dec. 13: Aoshima Taiheiyo Marathon (8,043) - entries suspended until August
Dec. 20: Hofu Marathon (2,724) - TBA
Dec. 20: Mie Matsuzaka Marathon (1st running, field of 7,000) - entries suspended

source article:
https://www.okayamamarathon.jp/2020/05/21/2020cancellation/
translated by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

'CAS Clears Japan’s Olympic Silver Medallist Ikeda of Doping, Overturns Ban'

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/10/23/cas-clears-japans-olympic-silver-medallist-ikeda-of-doping-overturns-ban The AIU's missteps in this case cost Tokyo Olympics and Oregon World Championships 20 km race walk silver medalist Koki Ikeda , a Toyo University graduate who competes for the Asahi Kasei corporate team, the chance to represent Japan at a home soil World Championships last year. It is almost unheard of for an athlete to successfully fight a biological passport suspension as Ikeda did, making this a highly significant case. The CAS' press release about its decision stated: "The Panel stressed that the Athlete did not merely assert his position on the ABP abnormalities but adduced very extensive evidence in support of his explanations. In this highly complex case, the evidence brought during the CAS proceedings was far more abundant and specific than during the first instance proceedings with the WA Disciplinary Tribunal, implying the CAS Panel had further ...

Meijo Back With Morinomiyako Ekiden CR for National University Title

The last big dynasty school in Japanese women's distance running with 7-straight wins at October's Morinomiyako Ekiden from 2017 to 2023 and 6-straight titles at the season-ending Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden from 2018 to 2023, Meijo University came back from a 3rd-place finish last year to win the 44th Morinomiyako Ekiden again, leading almost start-to-finish to set a 2:02:21 CR for the 6-stage, 38.0 km course in Sendai. 12 second back in 2nd after the opening leg, collegiate 3000 mSC champ Nozomi Kondo put Meijo out front with a 12:36 CR for the 4.0 km Second Stage, and the rest of the team never looked back. The biggest threat to a Meijo win was on the 9.2 m Fifth Stage, where this year's collegiate 10000 m winner Sarah Wanjiru from last year's runner-up Daito Bunka University started 50 seconds back from Meijo 1st-year Mao Kimura . In taking the 10000 m title Wanjiru had outrun Kimura by over a minute, but today Kimura was a revelation, strong and smooth out fr...

Morinomiyako Ekiden Preview

The university men's ekiden circuit is 100% dominated by schools from the Tokyo-area Kanto Region, but for women it's more geographically diverse, the last two big dynasty schools being the Tokai Region's Meijo University and the Kansai Region's Ritsumeikan University with Kanto's Daito Bunka University a perpetual close 2nd at both of the main races, Sunday's Morinomiyako Ekiden and December's Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden . Last year Kanto's Josai University scored upset wins at both Morinomiyako and Mt. Fuji , to make it a rare Kanto sweep. At Morinomiyako DBU was 2nd yet again with Meijo 3rd and Tohoku region local Tohoku Fukushi University a surprise 4th to hold 2024 winner and top Kansai team Ritsumeikan back to 5th. At Mt. Fuji Tohoku Fukushi almost pulled off a shock win on the anchor stage before Josai came back on the final climb, bumping DBU down to 3rd and Meijo to 4th, with Ritsumeikan 5th there too. Fresh names at the top of the list a...