My marathons

いぶすき菜の花マラソン (Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon)

09:009:00 AM Ibusuki
Mount Kaimon
Mount Kaimon. Photograph by alpsdake, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The course

The organiser sets an eight-hour limit for a recorded time, with gates at 29 km (15:00) and 35 km (16:00), and says it is the longest limit of any marathon in Japan.

The course in short 3 lines
  • An eight-hour limit and two gates8 h limit; gates at 29 km (15:00) and 35 km (16:00); the start is at 9:00.
  • Rape blossom, Lake Ikeda and Mount KaimonA road through rape blossom with Lake Ikeda and Mount Kaimon in view.
  • A festival for senior runners18.5% of 6,545 finishers were 60 or over; a 96-year-old finished the 42nd.
Course notes 3 short reads on the course
Whole courseTacticsAn eight-hour limit and two gates8 h limit; gates at 29 km (15:00) and 35 km (16:00); the start is at 9:00.

The 2027 race starts at 9:00 on Sunday 10 January. The organiser sets the time for recorded results at eight hours from the gun, with timing kept until 18:00, and notes that roads reopen at 16:00, after which runners use the pavement. It says this is the longest limit among Japanese marathons, citing the magazine Runners (July 2025). The two gates are at 29 km (15:00, six hours) and 35 km (16:00, seven hours).

Sourced

Whole courseLandmarkRape blossom, Lake Ikeda and Mount KaimonA road through rape blossom with Lake Ikeda and Mount Kaimon in view.

Per the organiser, citizens plant the rape blossom along the course from mid-October, and the race runs over a yellow carpet of it, with Lake Ikeda, the largest lake in Kyushu, and Mount Kaimon, called the Satsuma Fuji, along the way. Locals offer bonito belly skin and sweet potato at the roadside, and after the finish runners are served udon or soba, zenzai, rice balls and steamed sweet potato. The fun run finishes at Lake Ikeda.

Sourced

Whole courseCrowdA festival for senior runners18.5% of 6,545 finishers were 60 or over; a 96-year-old finished the 42nd.

The organiser’s concept is a marathon that anyone healthy can run, set by the athlete Keizo Yamada who helped found it. It cites Runners magazine (April 2025) for 1,214 of 6,545 finishers being 60 or over, and says Shintaro Okuyama, 96 at the 42nd edition, ran the highest age finish in Japan. It also records the slowest average time among Japanese races (5:35:09) and the highest share of finishers after six hours (37.9%).

Sourced

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

5 gels for Ibusuki, plus 1 spare

Finish

One every 40 minutes, by the clock:

  1. km 7mile 4.4
  2. km 14.1mile 8.7
  3. km 21.1mile 13.1
  4. km 28.1mile 17.5
  5. km 35.2mile 21.8

Our pick: SiS BETA Fuel gel, box of 6, strawberry and lime. 40 g of carbohydrate a gel, about twice a usual gel, from two kinds of sugar your body takes up side by side.

Easy to forget on race morning: pack them with your bib the night before.

Order by 20 December to test them on two long runs first.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

In Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Salted Caramel, 24-pack, the best seller there.

Outside the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the UK and Ireland, Spain and Portugal, Italy, the rest of the EU and Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Chocolate Outrage, 24-pack on Amazon.com, the best seller there.

Anti-chafe
Compeed Anti-blister stick
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed anti-blister stick, 8 ml

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

An invisible layer before the start keeps seams, straps and shoes from rubbing skin raw.

Put it on before you leave for the start: heels and toes, inner thighs, under a bra or heart-rate strap.

Try it on a long run first, like everything you use on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Number belt
A race number belt
Illustration · drag to turn

Compressport Race Belt

Holds your bib without safety pins through your top, with loops for up to 8 gels.

Clip the bib on the night before, so it goes on with your shorts in the morning.

Keep the number on the front, where officials and photographers can see it.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Electrolytes
A tube of electrolyte tablets
Illustration · drag to turn

SiS Hydro electrolyte tablets, tube of 20

One tablet in a bottle puts back some of the salt you sweat out.

One tablet in 500 ml of water in the hour before the start.

Only if you have used them in training: nothing new on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Blister plasters
Compeed Blister plasters, medium, 6
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed blister plasters, medium, 6

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

One in a pocket cushions a blister if one starts.

Put it on clean, dry skin and leave it until it comes off by itself.

Give a couple to whoever comes to cheer, so they are there at the km you need them.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.
distance
42.2 km26.2 mi
cut-off
8:00 h

Race week

Timetable

Sunday 10 January Race day

  1. 09:009:00 AM

    Marathon start

  2. Time not published

    Overall time limit Eight hours from the gun for a recorded time; the organiser says timing runs until 18:00 and roads reopen at 16:00, after which runners use the pavement. 8:00 limit: 11:22/km for 42.195 km8:00 limit: 18:18/mi for 26.2 mi
Cut-offs (2)

  1. 15:003:00 PM

    29 km gate Six hours after the gun.

  2. 16:004:00 PM

    35 km gate Seven hours after the gun.

Times as published by the organiser, in Ibusuki time, checked .

Add to calendar .ics file, times in Ibusuki time

Trip

Getting a place

Entry through the organiser

Entry details on the organiser’s site →

The organiser, a third party. We take no entries and have no part in the race.

Keep exploring

More races to look at after the いぶすき菜の花マラソン (Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon).

Marathons people fly to

Races in Asia
  • Fushimi Inari-taisha, KyotoEntry open

    Kyoto Marathon

    Kyoto, Japan

    Sun 21 Feb 202742.2 km144 m

    Climb summed after smoothing the heights over 1 km. The edge is this course's height profile on one scale for every race: 250 m above its lowest point fills it. Photo: Fushimi Inari-taisha, by Saigen Jiro, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  • Osaka Castle, Osaka

    Osaka Marathon

    Osaka, Japan

    Sun 28 Feb 202742.2 km34 m

    Climb summed after smoothing the heights over 1 km. The edge is this course's height profile on one scale for every race: 250 m above its lowest point fills it. Photo: Osaka Castle, by 663highland, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
  • A frame from our Tokyo Marathon filmImagery: Google Earth4:01

    Tokyo Marathon

    Tokyo, Japan

    Sun 7 Mar 202742.2 km16 m

    Climb summed after smoothing the heights over 1 km. The edge is this course's height profile on one scale for every race: 250 m above its lowest point fills it.
  • Kobe

    Kobe Marathon

    Kobe, Japan

    Sun 15 Nov42.2 km33 m

    Climb summed after smoothing the heights over 1 km. The edge is this course's height profile on one scale for every race: 250 m above its lowest point fills it. Photo: Kobe, by Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Courses on film

All races on film
  • A frame from our Athens Marathon filmImagery: Google Earth3:56Race week

    Athens Marathon

    Athens, Greece

    Sun 8 Nov42.2 km281 m

    Climb summed after smoothing the heights over 1 km. The edge is this course's height profile on one scale for every race: 250 m above its lowest point fills it.
  • A frame from our Malaga Marathon filmImagery: Google Earth3:50Race week

    Malaga Marathon

    Malaga, Spain

    Sun 8 Nov42.2 km63 m

    Climb summed after smoothing the heights over 1 km. The edge is this course's height profile on one scale for every race: 250 m above its lowest point fills it.
  • A frame from our Porto Marathon filmImagery: Google Earth3:53Race week

    Porto Marathon

    Porto, Portugal

    Sun 8 Nov42.2 km133 m

    Climb summed after smoothing the heights over 1 km. The edge is this course's height profile on one scale for every race: 250 m above its lowest point fills it.
  • A frame from our Curitiba Marathon filmImagery: Google Earth3:51Entry open

    Curitiba Marathon

    Curitiba, Brazil

    Sun 15 Nov42.2 km128 m

    Climb summed after smoothing the heights over 1 km. The edge is this course's height profile on one scale for every race: 250 m above its lowest point fills it.
More races in Japan and in January