The Arvis Sports Foundation announced its "Top 100 Running Races in Japan" for the period of January to December 2024. This selection was made from running races held within Japan, based on submissions from participating runners to the race review site RUNNET Taikai Repo (*1).

The years 2020 to 2022 saw the event canceled due to the spread of the coronavirus, but it resumed last year, making this the 25th time it has been held.

Seven races were selected for the first time this year. In addition to the first-ever "Fukui Sakura Marathon" in 2024 and the second "Fukushima City Half Marathon," historic races such as the "46th Fukuoka Ogori Half Marathon" were also named. Toru Sakuta of the "10th Saku AC Makomanai Marathon," which was selected for the first time, said, "We launched this race in 2014 so that Hokkaido residents could run a full marathon in the fall without having to go to Honshu. While the scenery and aid stations are unmatched by other races, we have detailed pacemakers and all volunteers are runners, making it a runner-focused event. I am happy to have been selected for the 100 Best Races on our 10th anniversary."

The three marathons selected for the 25th consecutive year were the Lake Saroma 100 km Ultra Marathon, the Tateyama Wakashio Marathon, and the Ibigawa Marathon.

Regarding the number of selection tournaments by prefecture, Nagano had the most with 8 tournaments, marking it the highest in the country for the second consecutive year. Hokkaido and Hyogo followed with 7 tournaments each.

Tournament Report

A race evaluation site produced by "RUNNET," which operates services such as marathon race entry. The evaluations

The 25th National Running Competition 100 Selections (Events held from January to December 2024)

★: First Selection Convention

Nagano Prefecture selected the most number of events by prefecture, with eight.

By event, full marathons were the most common, followed by half marathons.

RUNNET "100 Best Races" Page Renewal

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Click here for the RUNNET "100 Best Races" page.