The Lake Biwa Marathon is almost unheard of amongst amateur runners, in particular those of the western world. Nonetheless, it is arguably the most famous marathon in Japan and one of the most sought after titles amongst elite marathon runners.
The First Marathon Run in Japan
The race was first run as early as 1946 in Osaka and is widely believed to be the oldest marathon held in Japan. In 1962, the event was relocated to Otsu city. The marathon now takes the runners around Lake Biwa, Japan's oldest and largest lake from which it derives its name. Hence, since 1962, the race has been renamed as Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon.
The Fast Marathon
The race course is fast and flat and the associated speed record is much sought after by the world's elite runners trying to break their own records. The Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon is held on the first Sunday of March every year.In 2009, the race celebrated its 64th anniversary on the first of March.
The Organizers behind Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon
The race is organized jointly by
- Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF),
- The Mainichi Newspapers
- Shiga Prefecture
- Shiga Prefectural Board of Education
- Otsu City and
- Otsu City Board of Education
An IAAF Gold Label Road Race
The 64th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon is listed as an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, because of its popularity amongst the game's foremost runners and its status as the mother of marathons in Japan.
The Exclusive Marathon
Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon is a men's only event. It is definitely an exclusive event in that the athletes must either be recommended by the JAAF or meet the following qualifying times:
- Marathon: 2 hours 30 minutes or faster
- Half marathon: 1 hour 10 minutes or faster
- 30km: 1 hour 40 minutes or faster
- 20km: 1 hour 05 minutes or faster
- 10,000m: 31 minutes or faster
Experienced marathoners can testify that these are all extremely admirable qualifying times, even much more stringent than those of the renowned Boston Marathon.
The Course
The race course started and finished at Ojiyama Stadium and routed circularly through
- Seta-Kara Bridge West
- Ishiyama Temple
- Nangou Weir
- Seta-Kara Bridge East
- Shiga Prefectural Rowing Park
- Kusatsu city Shinhama
Checking stations were positioned throughout the course at the following points and these were closed
after cut-off times as follows:
- 15km point: 53 minutes
- 20km point: 1 hour 10 minutes
- 25km point: 1 hour 28 minutes
- 30km point: 1 hour 48 minutes
- 35km point: 2 hours 09 minutes
- 40km point: 2 hours 30 minutes
The Very Tight Results of the 64th Race
- TERGAT,Paul 2:10:22
- RIOS,Jose 2:10:36
- ASMEROM,Yared 2:10:49
- SHIMIZU,Masaya 2:10:50
- GUTA,Abiyot 2:11:18
A tight battle was fought throughout the race and at the finish, reflected by the very close finishing times. In fact, the first five finishers all finished within the minute following the 2hr 10min 22sec win by the great Paul Tergat. Tergat was very pleased to have beaten the pack of the world's very best runners.
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