Nagano Marathon

My husband will participate in the Nagano Marathon in April and I would like to know how I can get to the Nagano Olympic Stadium to meet him after the race or to some other spots along the course to cheer for him. Thanks for help!

Hi!

I want to stress I have never participated or cheered for anyone in this race before but...I have been to Nagano.

Nagano Olympic Stadium looks like it is north and west of Matsushiro. I have no idea where you are staying in Nagano. If there is availability I would highly recommend Metropolitan Nagano Hotel. The service is really great and the beds are super comfy. I actually walked from Matsushiro Castle back to Nagano Station because I wanted to visit Kawanakajima Park. It's actually surprisingly flat.

I have run races (nothing longer than a 1/2) but haven't been out to cheer for someone in a really long time, so I am going by my experience based on what I would want? If you take the Shinonoi Private Rail line from Nagano Station to Shinonoi Station you should be able to get a cab or bus to the stadium. If you're feeling energetic it's a 3.3 km walk.

If it were me, and I was staying at the Metropolitan, I would just go outside the hotel since it looks like the course is going to go right past it around 7kms.

I guess it might be possible to rent a bicycle but I am unsure how you would get it from the end of the course back to where ever it was rented.

Have you thought about emailing the race to ask some of these questions?

Good luck!

Thanks for your reply!
I asked the organizers of the matathon about the same question, but unfortunately they didn`t answer. Up to now the taxi from Shinonoi Station seems to be the only option, but maybe I find a busmap I can read (the only one I found up tp now is Japanese only ...)
Is there a bicycle rental near Nagano Station?

hi!

I thought there was one... I know I found one near Matsushiro just doing a cursory search, but I seem to remember the buses to Matsushiro are not all that frequent and you're looking at 10 kms to get from Nagano Station to Matsushiro Castle. I have seen a few hotels in Nagano say they offer free bikes for people staying there, but my Google-fu seems to be failing me today.

I guess you could also try contacting Nagano's tourist authority to ask about bike rentals or race questions. I don't know where you are staying but depending on that you can also contact your hotel. I stayed in the Metropolitan June 2018 and they were just lovely when we accidentally left our Lush Woosh in the fridge at check out. They carefully packed it up and sent it onwards to our hotel in Tokyo for us. I've also stayed at the Dormy in Nagano. They were nice, but their command of English was much lower. Nagano is a really nice city, it's low key, small and friendly. My daughter loved Zenkoji. If you have the time post the race I'd also recommend checking out Matsumoto.

I have to wonder if the race is offering some sort of transport as well. I confess, I mostly do Disney races outside of smaller local ones where transport is a non issue (like the 10 miler I did ended and began within a 1/4 of a mile of each other.) The staff in the Nagano tourist office in Nagano Station were lovely when I had a question.

It's fascinating to learn about another Marathon in Japan. I've mostly just heard of the Tokyo, Kyoto and Nagoya ones.