Osaka Marathon 2011 October 30th

I did this last Sunday and really enjoyed it. It was a well run race with perfect weather and fantastic start next to Osaka Castle.

Most of the races I do are on trails and this was the first 'big' marathon I'd done apart from the Standard Charter and I was super impressed. What I really noticed after the race was how bad it made the HK Standard Charter Marathon look.

The mass start of 27,000 people was well setup with people actually being realistic about their finishing time and being in the right section. Collecting the number the day before the race rather than weeks before as the case in HK was much more sensible. The drink stations along the course were numerous and had lots of options.

But perhaps the thing that impressed me the most was the spectator support. Last year there were people cheering for perhaps the last 1 or 2km of the HK Marathon (though I did still have to push aside a shopper in CWB), while in Osaka the whole 42km of the course was lined with supporters. There weren't just frantically cheering families, but bands, dance troops, drummers, DJs and even cheerleaders were all out in force. One of my fondest memories was two adorably cute little girls dressed up in their brownie uniforms offering a bowl of chopped up bananas to participants.

Osaka is a city of 2.5 million people, HK has over 7 million yet the Osaka marathon can bring out maybe 50 times more supporters than its equivalent in HK. Hong Kong this is embarrassing!

On a positive note I highly recommend the Osaka Marathon next year.

Cheers
Andrew

I concur with everything you say and more and that is why I stopped running SCM HK since 2005. At the finish, the arrangement to collect drinks, food, medal, souvenir, etc was just impeccable. Inside the expo, there was ample space to change clothes decently, there was cold and hot foot baths (I just think that was so clever and well needed to rest and recover tired feet). And mind you, it is their first time organising this event.

the cold footbath was great. much better than massage after race . the volunteers were outstanding . despite having to stand around for hours waiting they capped and cheered every runner making you feel like an individual hero and not just someone who has paid the money . really impressive .

Same impression from Tokyo Marathon 2011 that I have joined last year, much happier and systematic than HKSCM.

Any one know the password to view the photos from the official site?

u mean Osaka or Tokyo Marathon 2011 ?

I refer the password to view the photos of Osaka Marathon 2011 @ sport community.

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