Osaka Marathon
historyThe Osaka International Ladies Marathon is an annual marathon race for women over the classic distance of 42 km and 195 metres held in the city of Osaka, Japan. It is typically held in late January.
The event is hosted by , , , , and . The first edition took place on January 24, 1982, and was won by Italy's Rita Marchisio. The 1995 marathon was cancelled due to the Great Hanshin Earthquake.
The Japanese rock group The Alfee has written a large number of the theme songs for the marathon.
Winners
Key:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!class="unsortable"|Edition
!Date
!Winner
!Country
!Time (h:m:s)
|-
|28th
|January 31, 2010
|Amane Gobena
|align=left|
| 2:25:14
|-
|27th
|January 25, 2009
|Yoko Shibui
|align=left| Japan
| 2:23:42
|-
|26th
|January 27, 2008
|Mara Yamauchi
|align=left| United Kingdom
| 2:25:10
|-
|25th
|January 28, 2007
|Yumiko Hara
|align=left| Japan
| 2:23:48
|-
|24th
|January 29, 2006
|Catherine Ndereba
|align=left| Kenya
| 2:25:05
|-
|23rd
|January 30, 2005
|Jeļena Prokopčuka
|align=left| Latvia
| 2:22:56
|-
|22nd
|January 25, 2004
|Naoko Sakamoto
|align=left| Japan
| 2:25:29
|-
|21st
|January 26, 2003
|Mizuki Noguchi
|align=left| Japan
|bgcolor=#A9F5A9 align="center"| 2:21:18
|-
|20th
|January 27, 2002
|Lornah Kiplagat
|align=left| Netherlands
| 2:23:55
|-
|19th
|January 28, 2001
|Yoko Shibui
|align=left| Japan
| 2:23:11
|-
|18th
|January 30, 2000
|Lidia Simon
|align=left| Romania
| 2:22:54
|-
|17th
|January 31, 1999
|Lidia Simon
|align=left| Romania
| 2:23:24
|-
|16th
|January 25, 1998
|Lidia Simon
|align=left| Romania
| 2:28:31
|-
|15th
|January 26, 1997
|Katrin Dörre-Heinig
|align=left| Germany
| 2:25:57
|-
|14th
|January 26, 1996
|Katrin Dörre-Heinig
|align=left| Germany
| 2:26:04
|-
| —
|January 29, 1995
|Cancelled
(Great Hanshin Earthquake)
| —
| —
|-
|13th
|January 30, 1994
|Tomoe Abe
|align=left| Japan
| 2:26:09
|-
|12th
|January 31, 1993
|Junko Asari
|align=left| Japan
| 2:26:26
|-
|11th
|January 26, 1992
|Yumi Kokamo
|align=left| Japan
| 2:26:26
|-
|10th
|January 27, 1991
|Katrin Dörre
|align=left| Germany
| 2:27:43
|-
|9th
|January 28, 1990
|Rosa Mota
|align=left| Portugal
| 2:27:47
|-
|8th
|January 29, 1989
|Lorraine Moller
|align=left| New Zealand
| 2:30:21
|-
|7th
|January 31, 1988
|Lisa Ondieki
|align=left| Australia
| 2:23:51
|-
|6th
|January 25, 1987
|Lorraine Moller
|align=left| New Zealand
| 2:30:40
|-
|5th
|January 26, 1986
|Lorraine Moller
|align=left| New Zealand
| 2:30:24
|-
|4th
|January 27, 1985
|Carey May
|align=left| Ireland
| 2:28:07
|-
|3rd
|January 29, 1984
|Katrin Dörre
|align=left| East Germany
| 2:31:41
|-
|2nd
|January 30, 1983
|Carey May
|align=left| Ireland
| 2:29:23
|-
|1st
|January 24, 1982
|Rita Marchisio
|align=left| Italy
| 2:32:55
|}
- Ota, Shigenobu & Larner, Brett (2009-12-27). »Osaka International Women's Marathon. ARRS. Retrieved on 2010-01-31.