The Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon is an annual 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...

 road race

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...

 which takes place in mid-April in Nagano

Nagano, Nagano

, the capital city of Nagano Prefecture, is located in the northern part of the prefecture near the confluence of the Chikuma and the Sai rivers, on the main Japanese island of Honshū.As of April 1, 2011 the city has a population of 387,146...

, 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 is an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race competition. The Nagano Marathon has races for both elite and amateur runners. It is named in honour of the 1998 Winter Olympics

1998 Winter Olympics

The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...

 which were held in Nagano.

The course has a point-to-point style and it has received accreditation from the Japan Association of Athletics Federations

Japan Association of Athletics Federations

The is the national governing body for the sport of athletics in Japan.- Presidents :*Ryuzō Hiranuma *Hiroshi Kasuga *Ichirō Kōno *Kenzō Kōno *Hanji Aoki *Yōhei Kōno - Competitions :...

 and 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...

. The route begins at the Nagano City Athletic Park and heads in a generally southern direction, passing the Zenkō-ji

Zenko-ji

' is a Buddhist temple located in Nagano, Japan. The temple was built in the 7th century. Nagano City, established in 1897, was originally a town built around the temple. Historically, Zenkō-ji is perhaps most famous for its involvement in the battles between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen in...

 temple before finishing at the Nagano Olympic Stadium

Nagano Olympic Stadium

is a baseball-use stadium in Nagano, Nagano, Japan. It was used for the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1998 Winter Olympics. The stadium holds 30,000 people.The stadium is the finishing point for the annual Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon....

. The route incorporates four of the former Olympic venues into the race.

Nicholas Chelimo

Nicholas Chelimo

Nicholas Chelimo Kipkorir is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in road running, including the marathon. He has a personal best of 2:07:38, set at the Eindhoven Marathon in 2010, and took his first win at the 2010 Nagano Marathon.-Career:He made his debut over the distance at the...

 and Alevtina Ivanova

Alevtina Ivanova

Alevtina Ivanova is a Russian long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She has won at the Prague International Marathon and the Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon...

 are the current men's and women's course record holders. The 1999 route was aided by a downhill net drop of 4.27 m/km (just under the allowable limit), while the editions from 2000–2003 had an excessive drop of over 5 m/km, making them ineligible for record performances. The current route is relatively flat, however, with the race having an overall total incline of 5 m from start to finish.

The historical root of the competition lies with the Shinmai Marathon which was first held in 1958. The marathon came under its current moniker in 1999. The elite race is international in nature, with a number of foreign runners being invited each year, although prominent Japanese athletes also take part. 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...

ns have won the majority of the men's races while Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

ns have dominated the women's race. Nephat Kinyanjui

Nephat Kinyanjui

Nephat Ngotho Kinyanjui is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in road running events including the marathon. He is a three-time champion at the Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon and has also won marathons in Nashville, Dallas, and Beijing...

 of Kenya won the race a record three times consecutively between 2006 and 2008. Akiyo Onishi remains the only domestic runner to have won the competition after 1999.

Past winners

Key:

Nagano Marathon era

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.... )
—	2011	Not held due to Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...	—	—	—
12th	2010		2:10:24		2:28:48
11th	2009		2:11.21		2:30.07
10th	2008		2:14.17		2:26.38
9th	2007		2:13.32		2:27.49
8th	2006		2:11.18		2:28.52
7th	2005		2:10.59		2:28.21
6th	2004		2:13.09		2:28.05
5th	2003		2:12.00		2:28.23
4th	2002		2:13.23		2:26.09
3rd	2001		2:12.20		2:31.20
2nd	2000		2:10.17		2:24.55
1st	1999		2:13.26		2:28.41

Shinmai Marathon era

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.... )
41st	1998		2:17.34
40th	1997		2:17.24
39th	1996		2:19.20
38th	1995		2:17.22		2:36.35
37th	1994		2:16.10
36th	1993		2:15.43
35th	1992		2:14.05
34th	1991		2:16.33
33rd	1990		2:13.52
32nd	1989		2:17.25
31st	1988		2:14.44		2:41.39
30th	1987		2:17.21
29th	1986		2:25.52
28th	1985		2:20.52		3:30.26
27th	1984		2:19.13
26th	1983		2:17.47		3:28.01
25th	1982		2:21.21
24th	1981		2:16.59		3:35.38
23rd	1980		2:15.23		2:57.07
22nd	1979		2:21.10	Not held
21st	1978		2:22.04.0
20th	1977		2:25.18
19th	1976		2:17.31
18th	1975		2:21.43
17th	1974		2:21.28
16th	1973		2:21.27
15th	1972		2:21.03.4
14th	1971		2:18.17.6
13th	1970		2:21.29.0
12th	1969		2:21.02.2
11th	1968		2:20.50.6
10th	1967		2:21.27.8
9th	1966		2:22.36.6
8th	1965		2:22.31.6
7th	1964		2:23.11.6
6th	1963		2:27.05
5th	1962		2:27.43
4th	1961		2:28.41
3rd	1960		2:29.11
2nd	1959		2:32.07
1st	1958		2:30.15

External links

• Official website