Nagoya Women's Marathon

The Nagoya Women's Marathon is the world's largest women-only marathon, held annually on the second Sunday of March in Nagoya, Japan. First run in 1980 as a 20 km road race in Toyohashi, it converted to a full marathon in 1984 and relocated to Nagoya. It holds World Athletics Platinum road race status — the sport's highest designation for mass-participation events. The flat urban loop (one of the flattest major marathons in the world, ~40 m total elevation gain) starts and finishes at Vantelin Dome Nagoya, passing through seven city wards with landmarks including Nagoya Castle, Atsuta Shrine, the Nagoya City Science Museum, and Nagoya TV Tower. The race is open to women aged 19 and older and has a 7-hour time limit. With approximately 20,000 mass-participation runners, the field is drawn by lottery for domestic entrants and on a first-come, first-served basis for overseas runners (3,500 spots). All finishers receive a coveted commemorative gift — a Baccarat crystal tumbler since 2025 (previously a Tiffany & Co. sterling silver pendant necklace, which became iconic among runners worldwide). The event runs concurrently with the Nagoya City Marathon, which is open to all genders.