Today, I would like to write about World Heritage Himeji Castle Marathon 2015, which was advertised early in 2014 and will be held on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015.
There are two types of marathon; "full marathon" and "fun runs."
The committee needed 6,000 people for the full marathon, which is 42.195-kilometer run.
For the fun runs, the committee requested a total of 4,000 people to run according to 4 types of distances, such as 1.0 kilometer, 1.5 kilometers, 2.0 kilometers and 5.0 kilometers.
To join as runners, people must have submitted their applications from July 22 to August 31, 2014.
By the end of August 2014, a total of 21,486 people from all across Japan submitted their application for the full marathon. Because of the roads capacity, only 6,000 people were registered as runners through lottery. Once registered, each participant must pay 10, 000 yen.
For fun runs, runners were chosen by way of "first come, first served" basis.
As a result, the Himeji Marathon committee collected 10,000 runners for a total of 68,800,000 yen (approx. US$688,000) for the one-day event. The committee also asked volunteers among its citizens for the event. The vacancy of 3,000 opening staff members were easily filled.
Volunteering staff members wearing green jacket
(added sentences on Feb. 23) ↓↓↓
I thought the runners were unfortunate because the event was held on a rainy day, and they got soaked in the rain. Nevertheless, many people thought that keeping Himeji castle was important, and they donated pocket money by participating in the marathon event.
In my opinion, the Himeji city officials wanted to accumulate funds because they spent for the castle's maintenance and that's why they came up with the idea of organizing a marathon.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(more details)
The capacity for the full marathon is 6,000 people.
Himeji castle was built in 1346. In the recent years, the castle is repeatedly restored for maintenance every 60 years. The most recent restoration began in 2009 and they have just finished its maintenance recently.
No one lives in the castle anymore and it is used as a museum. The castle will be opened to the public on March 27, 2015.
(for calculation details, scroll down to the bottom of the page)
* * * * * * * * * *
(1) The Full marathon is 42.195 kilomters run.
The number of runners: 6,000 participants.
Participation fee: 10,000 yen / person
Runners must finish the marathon within 6:00 hours.
Starts at 9:00 a.m. / Ends at 3:00 p.m.
Some of them wearing his or her rainy coat.
(2) The Fun Run ... 4,000 participants in total.
4 types of courses, such as 1.0 kilometer, 1.5 kilometer, 2 kilometers and 5 kilometers)
* * * * * * * * * *
1.0 kilometer for "the family run"
We call it "the family run" because participants must be in pairs:
1 adult (over 18 years old) and 1 child (of 4 to 6 years old.)
The number of runners: 300 pairs or 600 people
Participation fee: 4,000 yen / pair
Runners must finish the marathon within 10 minutes.
Starts at 9:10 a.m.
* * * * * * * * * *
THE 1.5-kilometer COURSE of FUN RUN
Paticipants must be on their 1st to 3rd grade elementary school students.
The number of runners: 1,800 students
Participation fee: 2,000 yen / students
Runners must finish the marathon within 15 minutes.
Male students start at 9:20 a.m. and ends at 9:35 a.m.
Female stundents start at 9:45 a.m. and ends at 10:00 a.m.
* * * * * * * * * *
THE 2.0-kilometer COURSE of FUN RUN
Participants must be on their 4th to 6th grade elementary school students.
The number of runners: 800 students
Participation fee 2,000 yen / students
Runners must finish the marathon within 20 minutes.
Male students start at 10:00 a.m. and end at 10:20 a.m.
Female students start at 10:30 a.m. and end at 10:50 a.m.
* * * * * * * * * *
THE 5.0-kilometer COURSE of FUN RUN
Participants must be over 15 years old.
The number of runners: 800 people
Particpation fee 3,000 yen / person
Runners must finish the marathon within 40 minutes.
Starts at ????
The guest runners are Olympic marathon runners or other experts.
* * * * * * * * * *
A total of 10,000 runners will gather from 9:00 am at the starting point, and we expect terrible congestion in the area.
Don't cheer for the runners even if they are your family members or friends at the starting / finishing points.
We are also holding a campaign "No My Car Day," which can be translated to "Car Free Day" on Feb. 22 around Himeji castle, Hyogo Prefecture.
The map in the picture illustrates the marathon course and its traffic scheme
Terrible congestion will be expected on that day,
so please don't stay near the starting / finishing points,
shown in red in the picture.
The Traffic scheme will be held from 7:00 am. to 5:00 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 22.
Emergency vehicles and regular routine buses
are the only vechicles allowed within these hours.
Even bikes and pedestrians will be restricted for the marathon event.
We thank you for your coorporation!
* (calculation details)
For full marathon event, 6,000 runners will pay 10,000 yen per head which amounts to 60,000,000 yen (approx. US$600,000).For 4,000 runners of the fun marathons, they asked a total of 8,800,000 yen (approx.US$88,000)
details:
4,000 yen x 300 pairs = 1,200,000 yen (=approx. US$12,000)
2,000 yen for 1,800 students = 3,600,000 yen (=approx. US$36,000)
2,000 yen for 800 students = 1,600,000 yen (=approx. US$16,000)
3,000 yen for 800 people = 2,400,000 yen (=approx. US$24,000)
No comments:
Post a Comment