My Running Diary

Race day

Kyoto Marathon 2027

京都マラソン 2027

Date
Sun 21 Feb 2027
Gun
09:00
Days to go
162
Course limit
6:00:00

Start at Takebishi Stadium Kyoto, Nishikyōgoku. Finish at Heian-jingū Shrine.

The six-hour limit

Six hours, enforced across eight gates. Miss a gate and you are pulled off the course. Your Osaka elapsed time was 5:52:25 — about eight minutes of margin, on an easier course.

Weather is on your side

Kyoto in late February is roughly 3–10°C. Bangkok evenings are 30°C and humid. That difference is worth 20–35 seconds per kilometre to you, and it is the single biggest free gain in this plan.

The course

  1. 0–5
    km

    Settle down

    Crowded and slightly uphill out of Nishikyōgoku. Every runner here goes out too fast. Do not be one of them.

  2. 10–15
    km

    Arashiyama

    The hardest climbing of the day comes early, through Arashiyama and the Kinukake-no-michi temple road. Run it by effort, not by pace. Losing 30 seconds here is cheap.

  3. 20–30
    km

    Kamo river

    The course eases and flattens along the river. This is where you bank the race — smooth, even, fuelled.

  4. 38–40
    km

    The sting

    A late rise when there is nothing left. This is the section the whole training block is really for. Osaka fell apart at exactly this point.

  5. 42.195
    km

    Heian-jingū

    Finish in front of the great torii. You will have run the second half you have never run.

Pacing for Sub-5:00

Slightly conservative through the Arashiyama climbs, then even. The last column is the clock you should see as you pass each marker.

SegmentPaceSplitElapsed
0–5 km7:2036:400:36:40
5–10 km7:1536:151:12:55
10–15 km7:1035:501:48:45
15–20 km7:0535:252:24:10
20–25 km7:0035:002:59:10
25–30 km7:0035:003:34:10
30–35 km7:0035:004:09:10
35–40 km7:0535:254:44:35
40–42.195 km7:0015:224:59:57

Fuelling

  • Breakfast three hours before: the exact meal you rehearse in week 20. Nothing new.
  • A gel every 40 minutes from the 40-minute mark. That is six to seven gels. Carry them all.
  • Water at every station. Sports drink at alternate ones.
  • Practise every single one of these on long runs from week 9. Osaka was a fuelling failure as much as a pacing one.

Before you go

  • Confirm entry

    Overseas allocation is first-come; the domestic lottery result lands 5 October 2026.

  • Book flights and accommodation

    Kyoto sells out fast for race weekend.

  • Replace race shoes

    Boston 13 will be well past 800 km by February. Buy the race pair by week 14 and run them in.

  • Cold-weather kit

    You have never raced in single-digit temperatures. Test gloves, sleeves and a throwaway top.

  • Read the gate cutoff times

    Published in the race guidebook. Know every one before the start.