2025 Kobe Marathon
16 November 2025
For 2025, the family came for the weekend and we had lots more fun together!
I wanted to try to do a sub-4, but in the end my pacing went wrong and I couldn't get there. Still, there was beautiful weather, lots of crowds, and a Kobe beef dinner in the evening after Kobe Bible Fellowship, which made it all worthwhile.
The numbers
- Net time: 4:09:38, nineteen minutes faster than in 2024
- Average pace: about 5:55 per km (sub-4 needed 5:41)
- Halfway: 1:55:27, so the second half took 2:14:11
I built a cushion of about four minutes on sub-4 pace by halfway, and was still on target at 30 km. The wheels came off between 35 and 40 km, where one 5 km stretch cost me 37:30. The lesson: start more gently.
| Distance | Split | Pace per km |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 km | 29:00 | 5:48 |
| 5–10 km | 26:07 | 5:13 |
| 10–15 km | 26:27 | 5:17 |
| 15–20 km | 27:33 | 5:31 |
| 20–25 km | 28:13 | 5:39 |
| 25–30 km | 29:17 | 5:51 |
| 30–35 km | 30:25 | 6:05 |
| 35–40 km | 37:30 | 7:30 |
| 40 km–finish (2.195 km) | 15:06 | 6:53 |
