Kumamoto Castle Marathon, live.

A marathon that finishes inside the castle grounds

The Kumamoto Castle Marathon is Kumamoto's February road race, and its full marathon finishes inside the grounds of Kumamoto Castle.

Kumamoto Castle Marathon 2027 is on Sunday 21 February 2027, starting at 9:00 and held in rain. It is organised by Kumamoto City, the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun and the Kumamoto Athletics Association.

The main event is the Rekishi Meguri Full Marathon, a history tour of the city on a course certified by the Japan Association of Athletics Federations. It has 13,000 places and a 7 hour limit, and entrants must be born on or before 1 April 2008, not be in high school, and be able to finish within 6 hours 40 minutes. The full marathon and the Joka-machi fun run both finish at Ninomaru Square inside the Special Historic Site of Kumamoto Castle.

The castle was built by Kato Kiyomasa in 1607 and badly damaged in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake. Its main keep has since been fully restored and reopened on 26 April 2021, so the finish is also a look at a city landmark brought back to life.

Alongside the marathon run the Kanakuri Memorial Kumanichi 30 km Road Race, limited to 150 registered athletes who can cover 30 km within 2 hours, and the Joka-machi fun run for 1,500 people from junior high school age, with a limit of 1 hour 15 minutes. Bib collection is only on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 February at Hanabata Square, with no collection on race day, and wheelchair entries are not accepted.

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 Kumamoto Castle Marathon.