On Air: Fukuoka City Information/2016.04.23(Sat)/09:00～

Here’s information from Fukuoka City.

The Fukuoka Marathon 2016 is going to be held on Sunday, November 13th and sign-ups are starting now! This year marks the third year the race has been held, and the number of runners allowed has been increased by 1,000 spots this year, bringing the total number of participant openings to 11,000! In addition to it's local advance applications, aimed at residents of Fukuoka and Itoshima, there are also applications for Fukuoka Sports Supporter Runners, open to the first 100 applicants who donate ¥100,000 or more to the Fukuoka Sports Support Fund. In addition, there will also be a 5.2 km wheelchair race for up to 20 participants, and a 5.2 km Fun Run for up to 2,000 runners.

To qualify for participation in the marathon, other than high school students, you must be born on April 1st 1998 or before, and be able to complete the full marathon within 6 hours and 45 minutes. For the wheelchair race, anyone of junior high school age or older who can complete the entire 5.2 kilometer course within 30 minutes in a racing wheelchair may join. Anyone of junior high school age or older who can complete the 5.2 kilometer course within 50 minutes qualifies for the Fun Run.

It costs ¥10,800 to participate in the full marathon. The wheelchair race and Fun Run are ¥3,240 yen for those of high school age and older. Junior high school students may participate for ¥2,160. Interested parties may do a group entry of 2 to 10 people. For example, you can apply as a family, an office team from your work, or with old school friends. You may not file redundant applications as a single, private runner if you are also applying as part of a group.

There are other new features to the event as well. Those volunteering to help with this year's marathon earn a priority entry for the "Volunteer Category" in the next marathon. You can sign up to be a volunteer starting May 2nd. The 200 runners in the "Volunteer Category" in the next marathon will be decided by lottery. And, for the first 200 runners from overseas, or other areas of Asia, there are new overseas advance applications.

The Fukuoka Marathon 2015, held last November, brought the whole city to life, seeing over 12,000 runners, including those in the Fun Run, aided by around 3,800 volunteers! Around 250,000 people cheered the runners on. This year's event is expecting to see another large turnout.

For further information about applying, please contact the Fukuoka Marathon Entry Center. The number is 0570-055-768. That's 0570-055-768. Please be sure to come out and support the race on November 13th.

That was information from Fukuoka city.