2027 Tokushima Marathon

2027 Tokushima Marathon Countdown

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Race Information

Race2027 Tokushima Marathon
CityTokushima
Date2027-03-14 at 08:20
Time Limit6 hours 30 min
Cutoff pace9:15/km
TimezoneAsia/Tokyo
Official SiteTokushima Marathon Organizing Committee (とくしまマラソン実行委員会)
RegistrationRegister · 13000 JPY

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Race Day Weather

Average Temperature7.1°C / 45°F
Humidity78%
Wind15.4 km/h
Rain Chance31%
Typical ConditionsMid-March in Tokushima is cool and spring-like, usually 7-14C (45-57F) at race time, with a chance of light showers and a breeze where the route opens onto the Yoshino River.

What to Prepare: Expect a chilly 8:20 start near 7-9C that warms through the morning. A throwaway top layer and light gloves at the start corral help; bring a cap and a windproof layer for the exposed riverside stretches.

Based on historical averages for race week. Use our Weather Score Calculator and What to Wear Guide for personalized advice.

Wind Impact on Race Day

Wind at 15.4 km/h can affect your marathon pace by 5-15 seconds per kilometer. Headwinds slow you down exponentially — a 20 km/h wind costs more than twice a 10 km/h wind.

Calculate your wind-adjusted pace →

Race-Week Climate

Based on 20 years of race-week weather (2005-2024), MERRA-2 reanalysis

Cooler Typical Warmer
Temperature 2.6°C 7°C 12.3°C
Dew point -1.9°C 3°C 9.8°C
Wet-day chance: 31% Runnability: 71/100

Data: NASA POWER (MERRA-2 reanalysis), NASA Langley Research Center

Course Profile

Course TypePoint-to-point road course through central Tokushima with a Yoshino River section, finishing inside a stadium.
TerrainRoad
ProfileNo elevation profile has been published for the 2027 route, so how flat it is remains unverified - and certification is unsettled: the approved plan says 公認予定 (pending) while the contractor spec writes JAAF 公認. What is confirmed: city-centre streets replace most of the Yoshino River levee, and the race runs point-to-point from Tokushima City to a finish inside Pocari Sweat Stadium in Naruto City.

Course Analysis

The Course Really Is Replaced, and It Is No Longer a Proposal

The 20th anniversary Tokushima Marathon (March 14, 2027, 8:20 wave start) runs a wholly new course, and it is decided, not proposed: it left proposal stage when the organising committee approved the 2027 business plan on June 5, 2026. 2026 was the old levee route's last run. The reason was monotony: Tokushima Shimbun, itself a co-organiser, quotes runners on "the scenery never changes" and "it gets boring."

Nobody has published what runners most want to know. The new route has no elevation profile, no kilometre markers and no cutoff table; on the organiser's own site the only visual is a single bare JPEG. Certification is unsettled: the approved plan says 公認予定 (pending) for JAAF and WA/AIMS, but the contractor spec drops the 予定 from the JAAF half. WA/AIMS is pending either way. So "is it still a flat PB course" has no honest answer yet.

Read the Opening as a Sequence, Because There Are No Kilometre Marks

The organiser publishes the 2027 route as an ordered list of places, not a distance table. From the start outside Tokugin Tomoni Arena (Tokushima City Gymnasium, renamed under naming rights) it runs out to Tamiya-kaido and the first turnaround, then to the south end of Yoshinogawa Bridge, onto the south-bank levee road, past Shirasagi Bridge and out to the second turnaround at the Yoshino River mouth.

No kilometre figure exists for any of those points, so any split pinned to a landmark is a guess. Build the day on one even target pace, not landmark splits. The levee has not vanished. RUNNET's write-up puts it at about 20% of the new course against roughly 60% before, with city streets now about 60%; press accounts add the facing section roughly doubling from about 800m to 1.6km. Those are reported figures, not the committee's.

North Bank, the Ring-Road Turn, and a Finish in a Different City

From the river mouth the route takes the north-bank levee road, passes Seiko Gakuen, hits the third and last turnaround on the Tokushima Ring Road, then north past Kitajima Town Hall and Kitajima Central Park, onto the Naruto-Ikeda road, past the Naruto wholesale market, and into Pocari Sweat Stadium.

That last stretch is 2027's biggest practical change: this is a point-to-point course across city lines, starting in Tokushima City and finishing in Naruto City. The organiser list backs it: 2027 adds Naruto City, Kitajima and Aizumi. Advice treating start and finish as both walkable from Tokushima Station stops being true, so rebuild bag drop, transport and meetups around two cities, and share a projected finish time with whoever meets you.

Thirty Minutes Gone: What a 6:30 Limit Actually Costs

The limit falls from seven hours to 6 hours 30 minutes, timed from the second wave's gun, not yours. Our arithmetic: 6:30 over 42.195km averages about 9:15/km against about 9:57/km before, cutting about 43 seconds per kilometre of slack. Anyone who scraped the old course in 6:45 now misses it. No 2027 gate table exists; the 2026 gates in circulation (last: 38.9km at 15:20) are old-course, 9:00-start numbers.

Entry is 13,000 yen, the finisher gift now opt-in at a planned extra 3,000 yen, up from an 11,000 yen base in 2026. It is online and first-come, opening around late September 2026. 2026's opened September 30, 2025 and did not fill: the window was extended to December 31 and about 7,400 started against an 8,500 cap. With certification unsettled, do not bank a time here for Boston qualifying until it lands.

Prepare for 2027 Tokushima Marathon

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Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Tokushima Marathon 2027?

The Tokushima Marathon 2027, the event's 20th edition, is officially set for Sunday, March 14, 2027, with an 8:20 a.m. wave start - the date, the wave start and the 6.5-hour limit are all published in the organising committee's approved 2027 business plan, so this is not an estimate. The edition also debuts a redesigned route, so what still needs checking before you book is the logistics, not the date.

How does the 2027 course differ from before?

2027 introduces a reborn course that runs mostly through downtown Tokushima and finishes inside Pocari Sweat Stadium in Naruto City, cutting back the long Yoshino River embankment that defined earlier editions while keeping a riverside section; race operator RUNNET puts the new split at about 60% city streets to 20% levee, a figure the committee itself has not published. No elevation profile has been released for the new route, so how flat it is remains unverified. Use our pace calculator and race time predictor to plan even splits.

Is the Tokushima Marathon a Boston qualifier?

Earlier editions were run on a course certified by World Athletics, AIMS, and the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (公認), making finish times valid for Boston qualifying. The 2027 route is new and its certification is being finalized, so verify the current status before counting on it, then check the standard for your age and gender with our Boston qualifying calculator.

What is the time limit and entry fee?

The 6.5-hour limit is confirmed for 2027, down from 7 hours, and it is timed from the second wave's gun rather than from your own start. No 2027 checkpoint table has been published yet. The entry fee is 13,000 yen, with the participation gift now opt-in (参加賞希望制) at a planned extra 3,000 yen.

How do I enter the race?

Entry is online and first-come (先着順), for 8,500 places including the athlete quota. The committee's approved 2027 plan puts the opening in late September 2026 and the window at about two months. The 2026 edition did not fill: the organiser extended its window to December 31, 2025. Exact 2027 open and close dates have not been published, so watch the official site.

Do I need a visa to travel to Japan for the race?

Many nationalities (US, UK, EU, Australia) can enter Japan visa-free for short tourist stays - confirm your own nationality's requirement before booking. Japan does NOT currently require an ESTA or eTA. Tokushima is reached via Tokushima Awaodori Airport, or by bus across the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge from Kobe and Osaka, roughly two to three hours from the Kansai region.

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