My marathons

Lake Biwa Marathon

This race no longer runs. Otsu
Lake Biwa
Lake Biwa. Photograph by Lonely Planet Japan, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The course

The organiser's 2021 course starts and finishes at Ojiyama Athletics Stadium in Otsu and turns in front of the new Seta water purification plant.

The course in short 3 lines
  • From Ojiyama stadium to the Seta turn and backOjiyama stadium, Yanagigasaki, Ishiyama-dera and the Seta river, turn at the water plant, back to the stadium.
  • A race for a qualified fieldThe 2021 race took qualified men only: a 2:30:00 marathon, or a federation invitation.
  • Run since 1946, on a course said to be flatFirst run in Osaka in 1946, in Otsu since 1962, on a course the organiser calls comparatively flat.
Course notes 3 short reads on the course
Whole courseGeometryFrom Ojiyama stadium to the Seta turn and backOjiyama stadium, Yanagigasaki, Ishiyama-dera and the Seta river, turn at the water plant, back to the stadium.

The organiser describes the course as a list of places, in running order: 皇子山陸上競技場 (Ojiyama Athletics Stadium), 柳が崎 (Yanagigasaki), 瀬田唐橋西詰 (the west end of the Seta Karahashi bridge), 石山寺 (Ishiyama-dera temple), 瀬田川洗堰 (the Seta river weir), 瀬田唐橋東詰 (the east end of the bridge), 県立漕艇場 (the prefectural rowing course), a turn in front of the new Seta water purification plant (新瀬田浄水場前折り返し), and back to the stadium.

The organiser gives it as a Japan Association of Athletics Federations certified 42.195 km course (日本陸連公認). This is the 2021 edition’s description.

Sourced

Whole courseConditionsA race for a qualified fieldThe 2021 race took qualified men only: a 2:30:00 marathon, or a federation invitation.

The 2021 race was on Sunday 28 February, with the start at 9:15 (2021年2月28日（日） 9時15分スタート).

The organiser’s entry conditions name male athletes registered with the Japan Association of Athletics Federations, aged 19 or over on race day, with a marathon of “2時間30分00秒以内” in the qualifying period, or a shorter-distance standard such as 1:10:00 for the half marathon, and also “日本陸上競技連盟が推薦する男性競技者”, men the federation recommends. The same page calls the race a World Athletics Gold Label race (ゴールドラベルレース).

Gates closed at 15 km after 52 minutes and at 40 km after 2 hours 30 minutes (◎40km地点 ……… 2時間30分), and the organiser stopped a runner who had not passed a gate by its closing time.

Sourced

Whole courseGradientRun since 1946, on a course said to be flatFirst run in Osaka in 1946, in Otsu since 1962, on a course the organiser calls comparatively flat.

The organiser’s English page says the race “first fired its starting pistol in 1946 in Osaka and is considered to be the oldest marathon held in Japan”, and that in 1962 it moved to Otsu, on the shore of Japan’s oldest and largest lake.

Of the course it says: “The course is comparatively flat and considered to be ‘a fast-speed-course’.”

Sourced

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

5 gels for Otsu, 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.

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

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