Kobe Marathon, live.

Along the coast to Akashi and back to Harborland

The Kobe Marathon is an autumn road marathon that runs west along the Seto Inland Sea and turns at Okura Beach in Akashi.

The 2026 Kobe Marathon is on Sunday 15 November. The first wave starts at 9:00 in front of Kobe City Hall and the second at 9:15. The time limit is 7 hours from the first gun, and the event closes at 16:00. The race is part of the Marathon Grand Championship Series as a men's G2 and women's G3 race.

The new course turns at Okura Beach in Akashi, with the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge close by and views across to Awaji Island, then comes back east to finish at Kobe Harborland on Kobe Gas-lamp Street. The organisers describe it as flat, with a difference in height of only 10 m, which makes it a fair choice for a fast time or a first marathon.

The marathon has 20,000 places. There is also a Relay Run for 150 teams of two, with a first leg of about 21.6 km and a second of about 21.2 km and the handover near the east car park at Okura Beach. Marathon entrants must be born on or before 1 April 2008 and be able to finish within 6 hours and 30 minutes.

Spectators can watch the start by City Hall and the finish around Meriken Park and Harborland, the waterfront area most visitors to Kobe head for anyway.

On Livebib you can follow a participant who chooses to share their own live position from the phone they carry. This is not the organiser's timing, and the official results come from the Kobe Marathon.