# Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon

The Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon (Japanese: 長野オリンピック記念 長野マラソン) is an annual marathon road race which takes place in mid-April in Nagano, Japan. 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 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 and AIMS. The route begins at the Nagano Sports Park and heads in a generally southern direction, passing the Zenkō-ji temple before finishing at the Nagano Olympic Stadium. The route incorporates four of the former Olympic venues into the race.

## History

Francis Kibiwott and Alevtina Ivanova 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 to 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. Kenyans have won the majority of the men's races while Russians have dominated the women's race. Nephat Kinyanjui of Kenya won the race a record three times consecutively between 2006 and 2008. Since its rebirth in 1999, only two Japanese runners have won the race (Akiyo Onishi in 1999 and Yuki Kawauchi in 2013).

## Past winners

Key:  Course record  Downhill course

### Nagano Marathon era

| Edition | Year | Men's winner | Time (h:m:s) | Women's winner | Time (h:m:s) |
| 23rd | 2024 | Keigo Yano (JPN) | 2:15:53 | Rie Kawauchi (JPN) | 2:33:16 |
| 22nd | 2023 | Kento Nishi (JPN) | 2:10:01 | Haruna Takano (JPN) | 2:42:44 |
| 21st | 2022 | Junichi Ushiyama (JPN) | 2:14:42 | Akane Sekino (JPN) | 2:41:20 |
| – | 2021 | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan |
| – | 2020 | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan | Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan |
| 20th | 2019 | Jackson Kiprop (UGA) | 2:10:39 | Meskerem Hunde (ETH) | 2:33:32 |
| 19th | 2018 | Abdela Godana (ETH) | 2:13:54 | Asami Furuse (JPN) | 2:34:09 |
| 18th | 2017 | Taiga Ito (JPN) | 2:14:39 | Rachel Mutgaa (KEN) | 2:33:00 |
| 17th | 2016 | Jairus Chanchima (KEN) | 2:15:31 | Shasho Insermu (ETH) | 2:34:19 |
| 16th | 2015 | Henry Chirchir (KEN) | 2:11:39 | Beatrice Toroitich (KEN) | 2:34:02 |
| 15th | 2014 | Serhiy Lebid (UKR) | 2:13:56 | Alina Prokopeva (RUS) | 2:30:56 |
| 14th | 2013 | Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) | 2:14:27 | Natalya Puchkova (RUS) | 2:30:40 |
| 13th | 2012 | Francis Kibiwott (KEN) | 2:09:05 | Pauline Wangui (KEN) | 2:34:22 |
| – | 2011 | Did not held due to Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami | Did not held due to Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami | Did not held due to Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami | Did not held due to Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami |
| 12th | 2010 | Nicholas Chelimo (KEN) | 2:10:24 | Lisa Weightman (AUS) | 2:28:48 |
| 11th | 2009 | Isaac Macharia (KEN) | 2:11:21 | Irina Timofeyeva (RUS) | 2:30:07 |
| 10th | 2008 | Nephat Kinyanjui (KEN) | 2:14:17 | Alevtina Ivanova (RUS) | 2:26:38 |
| 9th | 2007 | Nephat Kinyanjui (KEN) | 2:13:32 | Alevtina Ivanova (RUS) | 2:27:49 |
| 8th | 2006 | Nephat Kinyanjui (KEN) | 2:11:18 | Albina Ivanova (RUS) | 2:28:52 |
| 7th | 2005 | Isaac Macharia (KEN) | 2:10:59 | Albina Ivanova (RUS) | 2:28:21 |
| 6th | 2004 | Moges Taye (ETH) | 2:13:09 | Fatuma Roba (ETH) | 2:28:05 |
| 5th | 2003 | Erick Wainaina (KEN) | 2:12:00 | Madina Biktagirova (RUS) | 2:28:23 |
| 4th | 2002 | Josia Thugwane (RSA) | 2:13:23 | Madina Biktagirova (RUS) | 2:26:09 |
| 3rd | 2001 | Maxwell Musembi (KEN) | 2:12:20 | Akiyo Onishi (JPN) | 2:31:20 |
| 2nd | 2000 | Erick Wainaina (KEN) | 2:10:17 | Elfenesh Alemu (ETH) | 2:24:55 |
| 1st | 1999 | Jackson Kabiga (KEN) | 2:13:26 | Valentina Yegorova (RUS) | 2:28:41 |

### Shinmai Marathon era

| Edition | Year | Men's winner | Time (h:m:s) | Women's winner | Time (h:m:s) |
| 41st | 1998 | Yoshifumi Miyamoto (JPN) | 2:17:34 | | |
| 40th | 1997 | Isamu Sennai (JPN) | 2:17:24 | | |
| 39th | 1996 | Koichi Haraguchi (JPN) | 2:19:20 | | |
| 38th | 1995 | Fumiaki Makino (JPN) | 2:17:22 | Mineko Yamanouchi (JPN) | 2:36:35 |
| 37th | 1994 | Yukiyasu Ogura (JPN) | 2:16:10 | | |
| 36th | 1993 | Takashi Kondo (JPN) | 2:15:43 | | |
| 35th | 1992 | Toshinobu Sato (JPN) | 2:14:05 | | |
| 34th | 1991 | Takashi Murakami (JPN) | 2:16:33 | | |
| 33rd | 1990 | Kazuya Nishimoto (JPN) | 2:13:52 | | |
| 32nd | 1989 | Yoshihiro Ohashi (JPN) | 2:17:25 | | |
| 31st | 1988 | Hideo Takamura (JPN) | 2:14:44 | Kumiko Fukuzawa (JPN) | 2:41:39 |
| 30th | 1987 | Yoshizo Morita (JPN) | 2:17:21 | | |
| 29th | 1986 | Takashi Sato (JPN) | 2:25:52 | | |
| 28th | 1985 | Hiromi Nishi (JPN) | 2:20:52 | Tokiko Fukuhara (JPN) | 3:30:26 |
| 27th | 1984 | Masaaki Shibusawa (JPN) | 2:19:13 | | |
| 26th | 1983 | Shuzo Nakajima (JPN) | 2:17:47 | Hideko Miyashita (JPN) | 3:28:01 |
| 25th | 1982 | Fumio Inoue (JPN) | 2:21:21 | | |
| 24th | 1981 | Tadashi Matsumoto (JPN) | 2:16:59 | Shizue Takayama (JPN) | 3:35:38 |
| 23rd | 1980 | Atsuhide Maeda (JPN) | 2:15:23 | Chie Matsuda (JPN) | 2:57:07 |
| 22nd | 1979 | Osamu Kitahara (JPN) | 2:21:10 | Not held | Not held |
| 21st | 1978 | Tomio Ito (JPN) | 2:22:04 | Not held | Not held |
| 20th | 1977 | Haruki Okubo (JPN) | 2:25:18 | Not held | Not held |
| 19th | 1976 | Kaneo Hikima (JPN) | 2:17:31 | Not held | Not held |
| 18th | 1975 | Osamu Kitahara (JPN) | 2:21:43 | Not held | Not held |
| 17th | 1974 | Kunio Miura (JPN) | 2:21:28 | Not held | Not held |
| 16th | 1973 | Seiji Fukada (JPN) | 2:21:27 | Not held | Not held |
| 15th | 1972 | Kimio Otsuka (JPN) | 2:21:03.4 | Not held | Not held |
| 14th | 1971 | Kimio Otsuka (JPN) | 2:18:17.6 | Not held | Not held |
| 13th | 1970 | Kunio Miura (JPN) | 2:21:29.0 | Not held | Not held |
| 12th | 1969 | Toru Terasawa (JPN) | 2:21:02.2 | Not held | Not held |
| 11th | 1968 | Juichi Sato (JPN) | 2:20:50.6 | Not held | Not held |
| 10th | 1967 | Kunio Miura (JPN) | 2:21:27.8 | Not held | Not held |
| 9th | 1966 | Tadaaki Ueoka (JPN) | 2:22:36.6 | Not held | Not held |
| 8th | 1965 | Kimio Karasawa (JPN) | 2:22:31.6 | Not held | Not held |
| 7th | 1964 | Susumu Noro (JPN) | 2:23:11.6 | Not held | Not held |
| 6th | 1963 | Tadayoshi Shiozuka (JPN) | 2:27:05 | Not held | Not held |
| 5th | 1962 | Nobuyoshi Sadanaga (JPN) | 2:27:43 | Not held | Not held |
| 4th | 1961 | Katsuyoshi Ito (JPN) | 2:28:41 | Not held | Not held |
| 3rd | 1960 | Hidenori Baba (JPN) | 2:29:11 | Not held | Not held |
| 2nd | 1959 | Tadaichi Ishibuchi (JPN) | 2:32:07 | Not held | Not held |
| 1st | 1958 | Kikuo Ono (JPN) | 2:30:15 | Not held | Not held |