My marathons

いわて盛岡シティマラソン (Iwate Morioka City Marathon)

The organiser has not published a date. Morioka
Morioka Castle
© OpenStreetMap Morioka Castle. Photograph by 663highland, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons . Course line © OpenStreetMap contributors

The course

Pick a place, or drag along the profile

A slow rise of 15 m to km 12, another slow rise of 18 m from km 17 to km 24, then downhill home.

Start, finish

© OpenStreetMap contributors

  2. Photo: MIKI Yoshihito, CC BY 2.0

km 13.4mile 8.3

Morioka Castle

The organiser's course concept names the castle ruins and the old castle town; the course comes within 300 m of the castle at about 13.4 km.

Height drawn many times taller than life. Heights: GEDTM30.

Course elevation profile, 8× vertical exaggeration Elevation along the course from km 0 to km 42. The trace runs between 116 and 141 metres, a range of 25 metres, drawn at 8 times vertical exaggeration so the shape is legible. Smoothed over 1 km before this profile was derived. An unsmoothed urban surface carries the buildings and would assert a climb that is not there. The dashed stretches are bridge decks: (unnamed span), km 9 to 9.4; 明治橋, km 10.6 to 10.8; 不来方橋, km 14.7 to 15.2; 盛南大橋, km 15.3 to 15.9; (unnamed span), km 16.5 to 16.7. A bare-earth model reads the ground or the water beneath a bridge, not the deck the runner is on, so those runs are interpolated between the ground either side rather than measured, and they under-report the real climb across a span.
0 10 20 30 40 km
0 10 20 26.2 mi

Dashed: bridge

  • slow rise to 12
  • slow rise to 24
  • downhill home

Your 5 gels, at the orange marksFor a 4:00 finish, one every 40 minutes

  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

Get them on AmazonAmazon partner link

The course in short 2 lines
  • Between 116 and 141 metres: 45 metres of climbingA 25 m range: 45.3 m of climbing, the high point at km 24.2.
  • A course built around the castle town, the river and Mount IwateThe concept: Mount Iwate, the salmon river, the castle town and the new districts.
Course notes 2 short reads on the course
km 0 to 42.2GradientBetween 116 and 141 metres: 45 metres of climbingA 25 m range: 45.3 m of climbing, the high point at km 24.2.

The lowest point is at km 0.2, close to the start. Nearly three quarters of the course is at or below 130 m, and the finish at 118.0 m is about 2 m above where the race starts.

A watch on the day will count more small rises than 45.3 m, from bridges and underpasses. These figures are for the 2026 course.

Measured

Whole courseLandmarkA course built around the castle town, the river and Mount IwateThe concept: Mount Iwate, the salmon river, the castle town and the new districts.

The organiser offers two courses, the full marathon and a fun run. The 2026 marathon was run on 4 October 2026.

The 2026 course passes about 290 m from Morioka Castle at 13.4 km and about 250 m from the Kaiun Bridge at 14.6 km.

Sourced

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

5 gels for Morioka, plus 1 spare

Finish

One every 40 minutes, the orange marks on the profile. Morioka stays within 25 m82 ft of height, so they go 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.

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
climb
45.3 m149 ft

The いわて盛岡シティマラソン (Iwate Morioka City Marathon) is a flat course of 42.2 km with 45.3 m of climbing. Its lowest point is 116 m and its highest 141 m above sea level.

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.

Sources and licence

Last checked.

Course line matched onto OpenStreetMap road geometry: (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License 1.0 (ODbL). Elevation sampled from GEDTM30, Global Ensemble Digital Terrain Model at 30 m (v1.2): Elevation: GEDTM30 (Ho & Hengl, OpenGeoHub), CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

Elevation gain computed by us from that line, smoothed over 1 kmsmoothed over 0.6 mi.

The line follows the road down its middle, so it measures 0.84% longer than the certified distance, which is measured on the shortest legal line through every bend.

Date and entry information from the organiser.

Every source and licence behind them →

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