World’s largest women’s marathon 2025

The Nagoya Women’s Marathon is the largest women’s marathon in the world, certified by Guinness World Records with 21,915 participants in 2018, held annually in March in Nagoya City, Japan.

It was launched on March 11, 2012, with 13,114 participants, reformed from the Nagoya International Women’s Marathon, the elite-only women’s race known as the qualifying trial that had sent off many Japanese star athletes to the international competitions, including two Olympic gold medalists Naoko Takahashi and Mizuki Noguchi.

It holds the World Athletics Platinum Label status and has now grown to an event of 20,000 participants. For playing a significant role in the increase of the women runner population in Japan, the race was awarded the International Olympic Committee Women and Sport Achievement Diploma in 2019, after receiving the Japan Olympic Committee Women and Sport Award in 2017.

Launched in 2012, the Nagoya Women’s Marathon is certified by Guinness World Records as the largest women’s marathon in the world and is a World Athletics Platinum Label race. All 2025 finishers will receive a beautiful tumbler from Baccarat, a French luxury lifestyle brand celebrating its 260th anniversary, as a memento of their achievement. Attracting much attention, the design of the finisher tumbler will be unveiled on a special stage at the Marathon Expo on the day before the race.

The 2025 event will feature a virtual race, the Nagoya Women’s Online Marathon 2025, which originally started as an alternative way of event participation under the travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, providing a feasible and sustainable option for runners who are unable to visit Nagoya or Japan on race day or who wish to reduce their environmental footprint by traveling long distances.

Participants of the virtual marathon who have completed running a total distance of 42.195 km on a smartphone application during the event period of February 9, 2025, to March 31, 2025, will receive the same finisher prizes as the Nagoya Women’s Marathon 2025 by mail. Entries will be accepted from Friday, October 18, 2024, to Thursday, October 31, 2024.

For the Event Outline of the Nagoya Women’s Marathon 2025, please visit here.