Enjoy natural greenery and the fresh early summer wind in Kanuma, a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. More than 7,400 runners will be attracted to the city’s warm hospitality as they pass by various supporters browsing roadside stalls. With festive music accompaniment as they run, they may also rub shoulders with Matsuno Akemi, former Olympic runner and guest runner at the 35th Kanuma Satsuki Marathon!
Opening at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, 10 May 2015, the marathon will be held at the baseball field in Kanuma Gotenyama (Goten Mountain) Park. The lively opening ceremony and starting point will be at the New Kanuma station, a tourist hotspot that brings together specialities including Kanuma soba noodles and fresh agricultural products.
Pandering to a whole range of runners, the event will host the Matsunami half marathon, Akirayama 10km course, Hanatakara course 5km and Princes 3km course for junior high school students. The non-competitive categories include the Princes 3km for general male and female joggers, as well as the HakuRei parent-child 2km course.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Awano city merging with Kanuma city, a special memorial tournament will be held. Encouraging three generations to take part in sports together, three-people teams comprising of an elementary school child, a parent and a grandparent will run alongside the HakuRei participants.
Everyone’s a winner in this all-encompassing marathon! All participants will get goodies including Satsuki seedlings, shoulder bags, and bib clasp designed with Berry-chan, the city’s mascot character, and Satsuki flowers. Certificates, trophies and Satsuki potted plants will be awarded to the top six finishers in the competitive categories. Parent and child participants in the HakuRei category will get finishers’ medals and those aged 60 years and older will also be presented with special Kibi-gara crafts. Passionate runners who have consecutively participated 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 or 35 times will also receive an exclusive memorabilia.
Only 5km Category Left for Registration!
The Matsunami half marathon and Akirayama 10km course have reached full capacity. Nonetheless, organisers are still accepting online entries for the 5km Hanatakara run until Saturday, 28 February 2015 via RUNNET, or until full capacity.
Open to 1,700 participants, the Hanatakara 5km course is open to runners of all ages. General entry fees are priced at 3,000 JPY but high school students pay half the cost.
Stay on top of the Kanuma Satsuki Marathon news on their official Japanese website.
