Official date status
Mt. Fuji International Marathon is listed for December 13, 2026. This date refers to the race represented in this guide; other distances and expo activities may run on different days.
Official date information checked on 2026-10-18. This check covers the date status, not entry availability or final race operations.
Date and race-format check
The full 42.195 km marathon is on Sunday, December 13, 2026, on the certified Kawaguchiko–Saiko loop course. Saturday, December 12 has the Fuji View Run and Walk, not the full marathon. Match your registration category, packet instructions and transport booking to the Sunday race, and check the organizer’s specific parking arrangements if arriving by car.
The verified 2026 facts
The Mt. Fuji International Marathon full marathon is scheduled for Sunday, December 13, 2026. The organizer lists a 9:00 a.m. start, a six-hour gross-time limit, and a 42.195 km Japan Association of Athletics Federations-certified Kawaguchiko-Saiko loop course.
Primary sources: the official full-marathon page, official entry page, and official event home.
Decide whether this edition is still actionable
The useful question is not only whether the race exists. It is whether you have an entry route and enough training runway.
- Confirm entry first. International general entry was sold out at verification time. The organizer separately listed an international tour-entry route; availability can change, so use the official entry page rather than a resale or directory listing.
- Count the weeks you actually have. A full 26-week build began on June 14, 2026. A 20-week build begins July 26; an 18-week build begins August 9.
- Match the plan to your current base. A shorter calendar does not make compressed training safe or effective. If you do not already have consistent running, choose a later goal instead of forcing missed volume.
- Confirm the six-hour requirement. The published limit is gross time and includes checkpoints. Your training evidence should support a realistic, controlled finish rather than an optimistic first half.
Use the training-start-date calculator to compare dates, then use the marathon training hub to choose an existing plan—not the plan you wish you had started months ago.
Course decisions before you set a pace
The official description establishes the lake-loop course and start/finish venue, but it does not justify a generic “flat and fast” claim here. The final map, conditions, crowding, and checkpoint layout can change race-day effort.
- Review the organizer's final course map and mark any turns, narrow sections, checkpoints, and aid locations.
- Set a gross-time buffer because the six-hour limit starts with the gun.
- Keep the opening controlled while the field settles; weaving for a few seconds can cost more energy than it saves.
- Rehearse the pace and fueling decisions you plan to use late, when the same effort can produce a slower split.
- Treat the race-week forecast as new evidence. This page does not predict December conditions months ahead.
The running pace calculator can translate a realistic finish range into splits. It cannot decide whether that range matches your current training.
A start-date decision table
These are calendar anchors, not individualized prescriptions. Pain that changes your gait, illness, or uncertainty about training safely needs appropriate professional assessment—not a harder catch-up week.
Race-week verification card
The official full-marathon page currently lists multiple bib-collection methods, but the details differ by entry route and some English text is ambiguous. Your own confirmation and the final participant guide should decide what you do.
- confirm your entry category and that your registration is valid;
- confirm bib collection eligibility, place, date, and identification requirements;
- save your wave, arrival, transport, parking, and baggage instructions;
- confirm every checkpoint and the final course map;
- check the official forecast and organizer alerts; and
- use only shoes, breakfast, and fuel already rehearsed in training.
If official instructions differ from this page, follow the organizer.
Train for the finish line
Once the entry and runway are real, the job is consistency: a plan that fits the athlete you are, recovery that protects tomorrow's session, and calm decisions when life interrupts the block. Train for what changes you.