The Osaka Marathon Organizing Committee will start at 10 a.m. (Japan time) on Friday, April 7, the process of accepting applications for runners in the 7th Osaka Marathon scheduled for Sunday, November 26, 2017.

The Osaka Marathon, Japan's second biggest road race next to the Tokyo Marathon in terms of participants, is an urban marathon event with 32,000 runners from home and abroad taking part. It is staged on a hugely popular course along places of interest in the city of Osaka such as Osaka Castle, the downtown Dotonbori canal and the Midosuji boulevard, roared on by 1.3 million spectators along the way.

As a "charity marathon," the Osaka Marathon features various programs that are expanding in scale every year. Attention from abroad is also growing every year toward the Osaka Marathon, which drew more than 4,000 runners from overseas in its sixth run last year. For the seventh event, an information desk will be set up to answer inquiries on overseas entries in an effort to attract many runners. We are looking forward to welcoming as many participants as possible.

In addition to the marathon, you may enjoy the city of Osaka by indulging in its own soul food, which epitomizes the famous saying, "Osaka is the town where people go broke over food," as well as going shopping, appreciating such traditional performing arts as Noh stage dramas, Kyogen comedy, Kabuki theater and Bunraku puppetry, and exploring Kaiyukan, one of the world's largest aquariums.

Summary guidelines for Osaka Marathon applications are available below.

Reference: Comments from participants in the 6th Osaka Marathon

According to a questionnaire survey of overseas runners, their rate of satisfaction with the event was extremely high at about 99%. Especially, many of them gave high marks to the event's support system and other aspects, including cheering from spectators along the course and volunteer activities.

- "The spectators in Osaka were very kind. They acted like my family members and they were nice to people like me who took part on their own." (A man in his 50s)

- "I appreciated the Osaka citizens warmly cheering us on and working hard to provide supplies to us. I want them to be as passionate again when they cheer for runners next year. I want to tell them 'your cheering gives energy to us, the runners!' I mean the cheers from the roadside." (A man in his 30s)

Summary guidelines for applications:

- Entry applications: From 10 a.m. (Japan time) on Friday, April 7, 2017

- Races, race capacities and entry fees:

(1) Marathon (42.195 km)

     Race capacity: 28,000 people  Entry fee: 13,000 yen

(2) Challenge Run (8.8 km)

     Race capacity: 2,000 people  Entry fee: 6,500 yen

* The above fees will be charged to individual entries.

* Additionally, each participant will be requested to contribute a charity donation of at least two units (500 yen per unit) and pay an administrative fee.

Official websites for entry applications:

- English: http://www.osaka-marathon.com/2017/runner/entry/admission/index_en.html

- Japanese: http://www.osaka-marathon.com/2017/runner/entry/admission/

Official Osaka Marathon website: https://www.osaka-marathon.com/index_en.html