LAKE BIWA 100
Experience Japanese Nature & Culture
The Lake Biwa 100 course takes you on a journey through various ecosystems and historical sites in the Kansai region of Japan, skirting Lake Biwa the biggest lake in Japan for most of the course. With only 330 participants and a generous 52-hour cut off, the race keeps its authenticity, with friendly smiles at the hospitable aid stations. But don’t let that fool you: despite the highest peaks being only around 1200m (4000ft), the technical 169km course boasts over 10,500m (34,400ft) of elevation gain. From 2024, it is Japan’s only Hard Rock 100 Qualifier, and for good reasons.
DIVERSE MOUNTAIN RANGES
The three main traversed ranges are Suzuka, Hiei and Hira, each presenting unique challenges and rewards, with both highest climbs located near the start and finish.
VIEWS OF LAKE BIWA
Japan’s largest body of freshwater, you will get vistas throughout the race. The goal is at a beach on its western side and many finishers dive in after passing the finish line.
VARIED ECOSYSTEMS
From primeval forests, to semi arid sections, cascades and tall pine forests, the flora around you sometimes changes in a matter of minutes.
HISTORICAL SITES
Pass by many Buddhist Temples and Shinto Shrines, including Enryaku-ji on Mt. Hiei, home to the famed Marathon Monks.
This race is a qualifier race for the Everest 135 mile race in Nepal in May.
The male and female winners of the LAKE BIWA 100 will be invited to the Everest 135.
Finishers of the LAKE BIWA 100 will also be eligible to enter the Everest 135.
※To participate in the 135 mile race, you need to have an experience of hiking over 5,000m high. If you don’t have an experience of over 5,000m mountains, you can run 100km race instead.
31 Mar. 2025
Pre-entry will open again this year on 1 May. You will need to fill out a form to be posted on the website which will enter you in the lottery to join the race. The ticket-based lottery is a response to the large number of entries we received last year. Every valid entry (people who meet the race requirements) gets one base ticket. The following people get extra tickets.
Past volunteer staff during the race – 1 extra ticket
Volunteers for trail work (maintenance activities) and course marking – 1 extra ticket/day
People who meet the requirements but lose in the lottery will get double the base tickets the following year. For instance, if you lost the lottery in 2024, you get 2 base tickets in 2025, 4 base tickets in 2026, 8 in 2027 and so on until you win the lottery. Tickets are reset once you win the lottery.
Please note that even if you have lots of tickets, you will not be entered in the lottery if you do not meet the entry requirements (ex: have completed a 100-mile race since 2021).
The LAKE BIWA 100 maintenance team is active now. Trail work and other announcements are made on the official FB page, so if you are interested in participating, please follow the page and await announcements.
We look forward to your participation.
13 Nov 2024
2025 LAKE BIWA 100 will be held on 10-12 OCT. Entry starts 1 MAY 2025. This web page has updated to 2025 ver.
The 4th edition of the 2024 LAKE BIWA 100 has reached its successful finish on Sunday 13! We would like to thank all the runners for their enthusiastic running and all the organizing committee members and volunteers who worked so hard to make the event a success. This year we were blessed with fine weather on all three days, but the daytime temperatures were probably a little too hot for the runners, but even so, 326 runners turned out, with 245 finishers and a high finish rate of 75,2%. We would like to thank everyone who took part in the event, whether they finished or DNF. Your achievement in completing the tough course was a great pleasure for us as well. Running this 100-mile course is not easy. We salute you all for your hard work and passion. We hope that this experience will help you in your future running life. The excitement created by this event will surely stay with us for a long time. We look forward to seeing all the runners and volunteers again next year. This event would not have been possible without the cooperation of all the sponsors, partner organizations, people who allowed us to use their facilities, and local authorities. We are truly grateful for their support. We will use the experience gained from this event to make it even better. We will upload next year’s schedule, official results and photos taken by the official photographers as soon as possible, so please follow us on the official SNS. We look forward to seeing many of you again next year at the LAKE BIWA 100. Executive Committee Chairperson / Race Director Kaori NIWA
