18th Shimada Oigawa Marathon in Liberty 2026

The 18th Shimada Oigawa Marathon in Liberty is an established autumn road event in Shimada, Shizuoka, built around the Oi River's Liberty running course. The 2026 edition takes place on Sunday 25 October and offers a 42.195 km marathon for 6,000 runners plus a 10 km race for 1,500. The marathon starts at 09:00 from Shimada City Hall, runs through the city before joining Liberty, and finishes at Shimada City Athletics Stadium. The 10 km begins at 10:30 from the Liberty side. The organiser describes Liberty as Japan's first dedicated marathon course. Its flat profile is used by corporate, high-school and university distance squads, while the seven-hour marathon limit makes the event accessible to first-time marathoners as well as runners chasing faster times.

Entries filled early and the organiser closed registration on 24 June after reaching capacity. Race numbers and other pre-race materials are scheduled to be mailed from early October, rather than collected through a conventional expo. Runners using event parking must have reserved in advance, and the organiser encourages public transport. Current race-week information also provides shuttle services between designated parking areas, the marathon start and the main finish venue.

Course support is a major feature. The marathon has a fruit station and, just past 33 km, the event's large aid station, where the organiser plans an extensive spread of local and runner-friendly food. Official examples include small manju, oden, yakisoba, soup, mini chicken ramen and Shimada-jiru. Participant benefits include an original event T-shirt, Shimada tea and a JPY 500 local hospitality voucher attached to the race number.

Awards cover the top 10 men and women overall, a special 18th-place award, and the top three men and women in age groups. Through the race's sister-race agreement with the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, the male and female marathon winners are also invited to the following year's Singapore race.