Men’s course record
2:13:43
Yuki Kawauchi · 2014
- Average pace
- 3:10 / km
- Terrain-adjusted
- +0.48 %
Naha Marathon
Naha, Japan The first Sunday in December Founded 1985
Out of Naha through the hills of southern Okinawa to the Peace Memorial Park, and back along the low ground by the coast, in December warmth.
Overview
The race starts at 9:00am on Route 58 by the Meiji Bridge, runs along Kokusai-dōri at about 2.4 km and heads south out of Naha through Haebaru and Yaese. Halfway is inside the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, and the second half comes back over the low ground near the coast, through Itoman and Tomigusuku, to finish in the stadium at Onoyama.
It's warm and hilly by marathon standards. The course climbs 288 m, most of it before halfway, and the median race-day temperature is 21 °C. Seven in ten starters finished in 2025.
The roadside makes up for it. Spectators line the course with brown sugar, sata andagi and Okinawa soba as well as drinks.
It's warm and hilly by marathon standards. The course climbs 288 m, most of it before halfway, and the median race-day temperature is 21 °C. Seven in ten starters finished in 2025.
The roadside makes up for it. Spectators line the course with brown sugar, sata andagi and Okinawa soba as well as drinks.
- When
- The 2026 Naha Marathon is on Sunday, 6 December 2026, starting at 9:00am local time on Route 58 by the Meiji Bridge, Naha.
- Course
- Naha's course climbs 288 m in all, with its lowest point at 2 m and its highest at 101 m.
- Entry
- Entry to Naha is first come, first served (sold out for 2026), and costs ¥11,000 for 2026.
- Field
- The 2026 Naha Marathon has a marathon field of 30,000.
- Weather
- Across 30 years, Naha's race-day temperature has a median of 21.2 °C.
- Records
- The Naha Marathon course records are 2:13:43 (Yuki Kawauchi, 2014) and 2:35:52 (Yoshiko Ichikawa, 2001).
- Time limit
- Naha's time limit is 6 hours 15 minutes.
Marathon Course · every marathon course, measured the same way
Naha Marathon
Out of Naha through the hills of southern Okinawa to the Peace Memorial Park, and back along the low ground by the coast, in December warmth. Route 58 by the Meiji Bridge → Onoyama Athletics Stadium, Naha, Okinawa, Japan.
- Distance
- 42.2 km
- Ascent
- 288 m
- Descent
- 289 m
- Net
- −1 m
Course map and elevation
5 km splits marked · hover or drag the profile below to move along the courseElevation · measured on the organiser's certified course map · GSI (1 m lidar where available) · smoothed 100 m 2–101 m
—
0.08.517.025.634.142.6
kmmi — elev — grade — hover or drag the profile
The first 9.0 km are flat, in Naha close to sea level. From about 10.0 km the course climbs into the hills of Haebaru and Yaese and rolls. Its biggest climb is on Route 331, 36 m in a kilometre, to the high point of 101 m at about 20.3 km, and it drops straight off it into the Peace Memorial Park, 40 m in a kilometre. About three-quarters of the climbing comes before halfway, and from about 30.0 km to 36.0 km the course runs barely above sea level. Add up the energy cost of every gradient and, for a three-hour runner, the course comes out about 54 seconds slower than a flat 42.195 km (0.48 %).
Take it with you
Course GPX Organiser's course map
The GPX is ours: our resampled line, a point every 25 m, carrying GSI (1 m lidar where available) elevation rather than the GPS noise a watch file usually holds.
GSI (1 m lidar where available), measured on the organiser's certified course map, smoothed 100 m · marathoncourse.com/marathons/naha/ · checked 2026-10-19
How to enter: dates and fees
Entry is first come, first served, with no ballot. For 2026 it opened on 1 July and the 30,000 places were gone by 11 July, the first time in recent years it has filled; in 2025 entries stayed open into August. Places can't be transferred. Expect 2027 entry to open in early July.
General entry was ¥11,000, and ¥9,000 for runners aged 65 and over or of high-school age; you have to be 16 on race day. Overseas runners enter through RunJapan at the same price, and get their bib voucher by email.
General entry was ¥11,000, and ¥9,000 for runners aged 65 and over or of high-school age; you have to be 16 on race day. Overseas runners enter through RunJapan at the same price, and get their bib voucher by email.
History
The first race, in December 1985, marked 25 years of Naha's sister-city tie with Honolulu. 4,301 finished it, 95.5 % of those who started, and no edition since 1987 has passed 87 %. The start moved to Onoyama in 1988, and the course has turned at the Peace Memorial Park, in Itoman, since about 1999.
The heat is what people remember. In 2016 the race-day average was 25.9 °C and it reached 28 °C; more than 60 runners went to hospital, and the organiser has since added water stations, sports drink at every one, and heat monitoring at eight points. Yuki Kawauchi set the men's record of 2:13:43 in 2014. The race lost 2020 and 2021 to the pandemic and came back in 2022.
The heat is what people remember. In 2016 the race-day average was 25.9 °C and it reached 28 °C; more than 60 runners went to hospital, and the organiser has since added water stations, sports drink at every one, and heat monitoring at eight points. Yuki Kawauchi set the men's record of 2:13:43 in 2014. The race lost 2020 and 2021 to the pandemic and came back in 2022.
- 1985The first race marks 25 years of Naha's twinning with Honolulu, and 95.5 % of starters finish
- 1988The start moves to Onoyama
- 1994Entries pass 20,000 for the tenth race
- 1999A finish rate of 52.3 %, the lowest yet, in 26 °C heat
- 2001Yoshiko Ichikawa, a two-time Olympian at 5,000 m, runs 2:35:52, still the women's record
- 2003Tatsuya Tanikubo wins for the fifth time
- 2009A record 30,081 start
- 2014Yuki Kawauchi runs 2:13:43, the men's record
- 201628 °C in December, and more than 60 runners go to hospital
- 2017Mitsuko Hirose wins for the sixth year running
- 2020Postponed for the first of two years
- 2022The race returns, three years after the last
- 202516,808 finish, 70 % of starters
- 20266 December, the 40th race, sold out in eleven days
1990200020102020
Course records
Pace is derived from the certified distance. Terrain-adjusted figures come from the same model that ranks every course on this site.
Women’s course record
2:35:52
Yoshiko Ichikawa · 2001
- Average pace
- 3:42 / km
- Terrain-adjusted
- +0.48 %
Race day: start times and cut-offs
- 9:00am
- 3:15pm
- Time limit
- 6h 15m
Take the Yui Rail monorail to Tsubogawa or Onoyama-kōen, a minute's walk from the start and finish. If you drive, there's a temporary car park at the west side of the Naha Military Port, open from 5:00am, with free shuttles. Bibs are collected at the Okinawa Prefectural Budokan in Onoyama Park on the Saturday, 10:00am to 8:00pm, or on race morning from 6:00am.
There are nine water stations, all with sports drink, and the organiser monitors heat at eight points and can stop the race if it gets dangerous. Food from spectators is allowed, apart from alcohol, but runners registered with the Japan Association of Athletics Federations can be disqualified for taking it.
There are nine water stations, all with sports drink, and the organiser monitors heat at eight points and can stop the race if it gets dangerous. Food from spectators is allowed, apart from alcohol, but runners registered with the Japan Association of Athletics Federations can be disqualified for taking it.
The morning, hour by hour
- 8:20am
- Start corrals close
- 9:00am
- Start, Route 58
- 10:25am
- Advised to stop: Nakaima intersection, 7.2 km
- 11:20am
- Advised to stop: Kochinda Junior High, 13.3 km
- 11:50am
- Advised to stop: Gushikami intersection, 17.1 km
- 12:15pm
- Cut-off: Peace Memorial Park, 21.3 km
- 1:20pm
- Advised to stop: former Nanbu Hospital, 28.3 km
- 2:10pm
- Cut-off: Naha Nursing College, 34.3 km
- 2:55pm
- Advised to stop: Akamine intersection, 39.3 km
- 3:15pm
- Finish closes
Cut-offs
- Peace Memorial Park · 21.3 km
- 12:15pm
- Naha Nursing College · 34.3 km
- 2:10pm
The organiser's 2026 times; the advised-stop times are approximate. Those two are hard cut-offs. At five other points the organiser advises runners behind its pace to stop, and the roads reopen behind them; they're in the schedule. Buses pick up runners who drop out.
Race-day weather, 1995–2025
- Median
- 21.2 °C
- Warm years
- 29 of 30
- Wet years
- 4 of 30
Race-day mean temperature, 1995-2025. Lime marks the hottest edition; the coldest and wettest carry a label only, so the colour still means one thing.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Naha Marathon hilly?
Yes, for a big city race. It climbs 288 m in all, and of the 29 courses compared here only Big Sur, Austin and Queenstown climb more. Most of it comes before halfway, on the way to the Peace Memorial Park.
GSI terrain model, sampled every 25 m, smoothed over 100 m.
How hot does it get?
Warm for December. Across 30 race days the median temperature during the race was 21.2 °C. In 2016 it reached 28 °C, and more than 60 runners were taken to hospital.
ERA5 climatology, 1995 to 2025; organiser's heat report.
Why do so many runners not finish?
The heat, the hills and the cut-offs. The limit is 6 hours 15 minutes, and there are hard cut-offs at halfway and at 34.3 km. In 2025, 70 % of starters finished.
Organiser race information and results.
Can I still enter for 2026?
No. The 30,000 places went within eleven days of entry opening on 1 July, and places can't be transferred.
Organiser news posts, July 2026.
How much does it cost?
¥11,000, or ¥9,000 for runners aged 65 and over or of high-school age. Overseas runners enter through RunJapan at the same price.
Organiser entry page, 2026.
What are the cut-offs?
Two are hard: 12:15pm at the Peace Memorial Park, 21.3 km in, and 2:10pm at 34.3 km. At five other points the organiser advises runners behind its pace to stop, and the finish closes at 3:15pm.
Organiser entry and course pages, 2026.
Can spectators give runners food?
Yes. The organiser sets no limits on food offered by spectators, apart from alcohol. Runners registered with the Japan Association of Athletics Federations can be disqualified for taking it.
Organiser FAQ.
How do I get to the start?
By Yui Rail monorail to Tsubogawa or Onoyama-kōen, a minute's walk from the start and finish. There's a temporary car park at the Naha Military Port, open from 5:00am, with free shuttles.
Organiser race information, 2026.
Where do I collect my bib?
At the Okinawa Prefectural Budokan in Onoyama Park, on Saturday 5 December from 10:00am to 8:00pm, or on race morning from 6:00am.
Organiser race information, 2026.
Is it a good first marathon?
It's a hard one: hills in the first half, warm weather and hard cut-offs, and in 2025 three starters in ten didn't finish. The crowds and the roadside food are the reward.
Organiser results; measured profile; ERA5 climatology.
How many people run it?
The 2026 race is capped at 30,000 and sold out. In 2025, 23,859 started and 16,808 finished, 70 % of them, after 14,067 in 2024.
Organiser figures for the 2026 edition.
What is the weather like on race day?
About 21.2 °C during a typical race: that's the median across 30 years, which have run from 16 °C to 25.4 °C. 4 of the 30 were wet.
ERA5 reanalysis for the race date, 1995-2025.
How accurate is the elevation figure?
It comes from GSI (1 m lidar where available), sampled every 25 m along the course line and smoothed over 100 m. The raw-to-smoothed ratio here is 1.14. Around 1.3 means the model is reading the ground, not rooftops; above about 2.0 the total climb carries real noise, and the net change is the sturdier number.
0 missing samples · 2 bridge spans corrected.
Sources
Every fact on this page, its source, and the date it was checked · 11
| Fact | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Course line | The organiser's Google My Map, line "NAHAマラソン 平和祈念公園コース（日本陸連公認コース）", the certified course. It measures 42.73 km, 1.3 % long | 2026-10-19 |
| Elevation | GSI, the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (1 m lidar where available), sampled every 25 m, smoothed over 100 m. Raw-to-smoothed gain ratio 1.14. The organiser publishes a profile but no climb figure; its chart puts the high point at about 88 m in the same place | 2026-10-19 |
| Race-day weather | ERA5 via Open-Meteo archive, the first Sunday in December 1995–2025 at the start, 09:00–15:00 local; 2020 excluded | 2026-10-19 |
| Records and results | The organiser's results for every edition, 1985 to 2025 | 2026-10-19 |
| Field | Organiser figures: entrants, starters and finishers by edition | 2026-10-19 |
| Date, start and entry | Organiser race information and entry pages, 2026, its news posts on entry in July 2026, and the 2025 edition page | 2026-10-19 |
| Cut-offs and race day | Organiser entry, course and FAQ pages, 2026 | 2026-10-19 |
| Heat | The organiser's medical and heat page, on the 2016 race and the measures since | 2026-10-19 |
| Spectator food | Number Web's report on the race, which names the brown sugar, salt, sata andagi and Okinawa soba | 2026-10-19 |
| Steepest-kilometre place names | OpenStreetMap via Nominatim reverse geocoding (ODbL) | 2026-10-19 |
| Photography | Unsplash: Roméo A. (Kokusai-dōri; the south coast), Ramon Kagie (central Naha) | 2026-10-19 |
Until the Naha Marathon · 6 Dec 2026
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