Saitama Marathon 2027

SAITAMA MARATHON 4th returns to Saitama City on Sunday, 14 February 2027, with the marathon starting and finishing around GMO Arena Saitama, the former Saitama Super Arena, in Saitama Shintoshin. The full 42.195 km course is certified by the Japan Association of Athletics Federations and the event has 14,000 marathon places. After the 2026 race was cancelled because of snowfall, eligible 2026 marathon entrants received a priority entry window for the 2027 edition.

The marathon starts at 09:00 and has a six-hour limit from the gun. Nine official checkpoints are scheduled between 2.9 km and 39.9 km, with the final one closing at 14:42. The wider programme includes an advertised 8 km road race that is being shortened to about 7.5 km because of renovation works at Urawa Komaba Stadium, a 3 km Enjoy Run, 1.3 km junior and parent-child runs, and an 800 m wheelchair category. Only the exact 42.195 km marathon and 3 km race are mapped to ARC distance fields because the other published distances do not have exact current ARC matches.

General marathon entry opened on 15 July 2026 and reached capacity quickly; the organiser has since closed all marathon categories. The English overseas entry route also now shows entries closed. Domestic marathon, shortened 8 km and Enjoy Run participants are to receive athlete bibs and timing chips in advance, with no venue check-in. Overseas entrants using the English entry route have a provisional bib-number pickup on Saturday, 13 February from 10:00 to 14:00 outside Saitama-shintoshin Station ticket gates.

Race-day access is strongly oriented towards public transport. Saitama-shintoshin Station is about a three-minute walk from the main venue and Kita-yono Station about seven minutes away, while extensive road restrictions will apply around the course. Baggage arrangements have also been adjusted because of arena renovation works: men are allocated one of three baggage areas according to start block, while women use Hotel Brillante Musashino.

Electronic finisher certificates are provided. Marathon awards cover the top eight men and women overall plus age-group winners, with separate awards for the shorter road race and team competition. The event is hosted by Saitama City, Saitama Sports Commission and the Saitama Athletics Association.