2008 Ohtawara Full Marathon, 10k – REPORT

The 21th [sic] Ohtawara Marathon was held on 23rd November, 2008. Conditions were near perfect — dry, cool, calm — when the gun signaled the start of the marathon at 10:40am.

A large Namban contingent (35+) made the annual pilgrimage to this race in Tochigi prefecture. The course is almost flat and the event is very professionally run. For example, all entrants can take advantage of the facility to use their own special drinks at points around the course. There is a time limit of 4 hours for the marathon, this means the field is relatively small and quite fast. As the course is basically 2 x half marathon loops some participants decided to retire at the 21k mark.