Osaka Marathon

I ran Osaka Marathon on a wet & rainy Sunday morning. Organisation at the start point was haphazard with many corrals from different directions leading to the start line. Runners queued for 45mins with raincoats & shoes, wet & muddy before the Start. The baggage drop-off area was at the Finish Point on the opposite side of the sprawling Osaka Castle grounds. After depositing our bags, runners had to walk half the outer moat circumference (the castle has two moats) to the Start line (near the Ootemon Gate of the Castle) in the rain. The course took runners to most places in central Osaka like Mido-suji, Shinbashi, Dontobori, Namba, Minato-dori, & Imazato-suji, before finishing near the Aoyamon Gate of the Castle. Water & ISO stations began at 5.6km & every 2.5km There were 5 energy & food stations starting at 18km. The cheer support was warm & enthusiastic for the first half of the run, and thinner during the second half. It was drizzling the whole day. The weather was excellent at the Marathon Expo a day earlier during registration. This was held at Intex Building, Osaka Bay. Bib collection was smooth & very well-organised. It was the biggest & the most exciting sports shopping event that I've been to, with almost 100 stalls! The experience would be better if it wasn't raining on marathon day. Find an accomodation along the purple Tanimachi Line between Tenmabashi & Tanimachi 4-chome stations to walk direct to the start point. Forget about the baggage deposit.