The is an annual road running

Road running

Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

 competition which takes place in early February in Marugame, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It currently holds IAAF Silver Label Road Race status and the professional races attract over 1000 entries each year.

The race in Marugame was first held in 1947 as a full-length marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

, known as the Kagawa Marathon. A companion 20 km race began in 1949 in addition to the scheduled marathon. The course lengths were gradually reduced over time: the main race lasted as a full marathon until 1961 when a 35 km race was held and the shorter race became a 10 km competition. The main race was again shortened in 1971, being reduced to a 20 km race. The competitions were known as the Kagawa Road Races until 1997, when the main race was slightly extended to the half marathon

Half marathon

A half marathon is a road running event of . It is half the distance of a marathon and usually run on roads. Participation in half marathons has grown steadily recently. One of the main reasons for this is that it is a challenging distance, but does not require the same level of training that a...

 distance and the competition received its current moniker.

Competitors in the professional races are largely Japanese athletes, supplemented by Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

n athletes based in the country. In addition, a small number of foreign athletes are invited to compete each year. The level of competition is strong: Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

n runner Mekubo Mogusu

Mekubo Mogusu

Mekubo Job Mogusu is a Kenyan long distance runner who specialises in road running, particularly the half marathon. An emigrant to Japan, he has won the Sapporo Half Marathon on three occasions and the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon twice – he is the course record holder for both of the races...

 recorded a sub-60 minute time in 2007 for the men's course record (59:48), while the women's course record of 1:07:26, set by Kayoko Fukushi

Kayoko Fukushi

is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres. Fukushi represented Japan at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics....

 in 2006, is the Asian record for the half marathon. The course is AIMS

Association of International Marathons and Distance Races

The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, also known as AIMS, is an association of long-distance running races. Originally founded in 1982 at a meeting in London of marathon race directors, its membership was extended in 1986 to include all road races...

-certified making performances at the course eligible for national

National records in athletics

National records in athletics are the marks achieved by a nation's best athlete in a particular athletics event. These records are ratified by the respective national athletics governing body...

 and world records.

The course of the half marathon is largely linear, beginning at the Marugame Stadium

Marugame Stadium

Kagawa Marugame Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Marugame, Kagawa, Japan, formally called Kagawa Prefectural Stadium of Marugame. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 30,099 people. The stadium was built in 1997.*...

 and heading eastwards before abruptly looping back to follow the same path back towards the finish point within the stadium.

Past winners

Early distances

Key:

Edition	Year	Men's winner	Time (h Hour The hour is a unit of measurement of time. In modern usage, an hour comprises 60 minutes, or 3,600 seconds... :m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... )
1st	1947		2:47:30
2nd	1948		2:39:54
3rd	1949		2:40:08
4th	1950		2:39:21
5th	1951		2:39:41
6th	1952		2:37:27
7th	1953		2:49:16
8th	1954		2:35:08
—	1955	Not held	—
9th	1956		2:54:56
10th	1957		3:15:20
11th	1958		3:00:54
12th	1959		2:44:02
13th	1960		2:45:43
14th	1961		2:12:18
15th	1962		2:09:13
16th	1963		2:09:53
17th	1964		2:03:43
18th	1965		2:01:47
19th	1966		2:02:02
20th	1967		2:01:57
—	1968	Not held	—
21st	1969		1:55:15
22nd	1970		1:56:55
23rd	1971		1:05:59
24th	1972		1:07:06
25th	1973		1:08:50
26th	1974		1:08:03
27th	1975		1:08:44
28th	1976		1:07:42
29th	1977		1:06:23
30th	1978		1:04:26
31st	1979		1:04:43
32nd	1980		1:03:53
33rd	1981		1:03:45
34th	1982		1:04:09
35th	1983		1:08:33
36th	1984		1:04:57
37th	1985		1:05:33
38th	1986		1:05:11
39th	1987		1:04:45
40th	1988		1:08:19
41st	1989		1:06:34
42nd	1990		1:06:16
43rd	1991		1:02:21
44th	1992		1:08:30
45th	1993		1:04:09
46th	1994		1:08:11
47th	1995		1:05:36
48th	1996		1:04:20

Half marathon

Key:

Edition	Year	Men's winner	Time (h Hour The hour is a unit of measurement of time. In modern usage, an hour comprises 60 minutes, or 3,600 seconds... :m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... )	Women's winner	Time (h Hour The hour is a unit of measurement of time. In modern usage, an hour comprises 60 minutes, or 3,600 seconds... :m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... )
49th	1997		1:09:01	Not held	—
50th	1998		1:09:00	Not held	—
51st	1999		1:08:02	Not held	—
52nd	2000		1:02:59		1:09:57
53rd	2001		1:02:28		1:09:28
54th	2002		1:01:43		1:09:33
55th	2003		1:00:21		1:09:32
56th	2004		1:01:55		1:10:46
57th	2005		1:01:36		1:09:34
58th	2006		1:02:13		1:07:26 AR
59th	2007		59:48		1:08:00
60th	2008		1:01:35		1:07:57
61st	2009		1:00:37		1:08:29
62nd	2010		1:01:08		1:08:37
63rd	2011		1:00:55		1:09:00

Statistics

• Note: All statistics apply to international half marathon only

Winners by country

Country	Men's race	Women's race	Total
	6	9	15
	9	1	10
	0	1	1
	0	1	1

Multiple winners

Athlete	Country	Wins	Years
Yoshihiro Hiramori		2	1997, 1998
Laban Kagika Laban Kagika Laban Kagika is a male long-distance runner from Kenya, who won the Hokkaido Marathon in 2004. He set his personal best in the men's marathon race in the 2001 edition of the Fukuoka Marathon.-Achievements:-References:*...		2	2002, 2005
Yasuko Hashimoto Yasuko Hashimoto Yasuko Hashimoto is a Japanese long-distance runner, whose main event is the marathon. She won the 2007 edition of the Nagoya Marathon, clocking 2:28:49. Her personal best was set in 2005...		2	2003, 2004
Kayoko Fukushi Kayoko Fukushi is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres. Fukushi represented Japan at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics....		2	2006, 2007, 2011
Mekubo Mogusu Mekubo Mogusu Mekubo Job Mogusu is a Kenyan long distance runner who specialises in road running, particularly the half marathon. An emigrant to Japan, he has won the Sapporo Half Marathon on three occasions and the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon twice – he is the course record holder for both of the races...		2	2007, 2009