The largest women’s running festival in the world is to take place on Sunday, March 10, 2024, with over 20,000 participants, including 3,500 overseas entrants.
The 42.2km race holds World Athletics Platinum road race status and it was certified by Guinness World Records as the largest women’s marathon in the world in 2012.
The 2024 race, to be held five months before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, is expected to attract special attention and excitement from home and abroad for being the final qualifier for Japan’s women’s marathon team and an opportunity for athletes around the world to test their abilities and gain momentum before the Olympics.

The course record is held by Kenyan Ruth Chepnge’tich at 2:17:18 from the 2022 edition. Chepng’etich went on to run 2:14:18 during the 2020 Chicago Marathon, which she has won twice. She also won the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships marathon.
The fastest by a Japanese runner is 2:20:29 by Mao Ichiyama from the 2020 running. She won and set her personal best and the current Asian record. The fastest time by a Canadian is 2:26:56 by Vancouver’s Rachel Cliff who ran the 2019 edition.
The participants that finish the race will get a specially designed pendant from global luxury jeweller Tiffany & Co. of New York.
One of the special attractions of marathon running is that as long as you are a runner who loves the sport, you can compete with the world’s best athletes, including future Olympians, in the same competition under the same conditions. The Nagoya Women’s Marathon 2024 welcomes race entries from women of all levels, from fast runners who want to challenge themselves in a highly competitive race, to runners who are considering competing in a race for the first time in a while, to runners who want to experience what it is like to run an all-women road race.
Registration for the Nagoya Women’s Online Marathon 2024 remains open until October 31, 2023. Intrigued individuals can enter the virtual race from 10 a.m. on October 20, 2023, to 11:59 p.m. on October 31, 2023 (Japan time).
The race was established in 1980 as a half marathon, then was lengthened to the marathon distance in 1984. Nagoya was restricted to elites athletes only in 2020 due to the pandemic and cancelled in 2012 due to the tsunami.
For more information, interested individuals can visit the official marathon website at https://womens-marathon.nagoya/en/outline/.
2022 results
1. Ruth Chepng’etich (KEN) – 2:17:18
2. Lonah Chemptai Salpeter (ISR) – 2:18:45
3. Yuka Ando (JPN) – 2:22:22
4. Ai Hosoda (JPN) – 2:24:26
5. Yuka Suzuki (JPN) – 2:25:02
6. Eloise Wellings (AUS) – 2:25:10
7. Ikumi Fukura (JPN) – 2:25:15
8. Kotona Ota (JPN) – 2:25:56
9. Kanako Takemoto (JPN) – 2:26:23
10. Chiharu Ikeda (JPN) – 2:26:50
11. Reia Iwade (JPN) – 2:27:03
12. Mirai Waku (JPN) – 2:27:16
13. Rie Kawauchi (JPN) – 2:27:52
14. Yuma Adachi (JPN) – 2:28:28
15. Hikari Onishi (JPN) – 2:28:56
16. Hanae Tanaka (JPN) – 2:30:01
17. Anna Matsuda (JPN) – 2:30:19
18. Nana Sato (JPN) – 2:30:24
19. Momoko Watanabe (JPN) – 2:30:42
20. Mayu Nishikawa (JPN) – 2:31:32