The project · 14 March 2027

ObjectiveNagoya.

Elisa wants to run the world’s largest all-women marathon, in Japan. What remains is making the trip possible, and telling the story.

Nantes → NagoyaWomen’s marathonElisa, bib 2027
To the start
D-
days to the start14.03.2027

Brands and companies

Come and join this challenge.

Want to be part of this adventure? Get in touch and help this project go all the way. Yunomi led the way: the brands that back Elisa are featured in her videos, on her social channels and on her race kit.

Press · 26 October 2026

InOuest-France

Ouest-France, the leading regional daily in France, tells Elisa’s new challenge: being one of the very few French women on the start line of the world’s largest women’s marathon.

Front page of the Ouest-France newspaper, print edition, folded on a table
01Front page of the print edition
Screenshot of the article on ouest-france.fr: Elisa Bernard running in a black Elisa Is Running t-shirt, curly hair in the wind
02The article on ouest-france.fr (in French)
Read the article →See the sources →
Ouest-France Sports page with the article “Nagoya: Elisa Bernard’s new challenge” and a photo of Elisa running
03The article in the Sports pages, with English translation
First partner

Yunomi is on board.

Yunomi logo, red seal with the stylised word yunomi

Yunomi

yunomi.life

Japanese teaWomen in Tea kitPartner no. 1

Yunomi.life, a Japanese tea house, is the first brand to join Elisa on the road to Nagoya, with a Women in Tea kit for her training and the trip. Thank you to Mayling and the whole team.

Discover Yunomi →
By the numbers

The race in four labels.

  • No. 01
    42.195km

    One marathon, starting in Nagoya, Japan’s fourth-largest city.

  • No. 02
    22,000runners

    With only 3,500 bibs reserved for foreign women.

  • No. 03
    3:37best time

    The time Elisa has never beaten, in London, New York or Paris.

  • No. 04
    6nights

    On site, to run, discover the city and film.

The race

Not an ordinary marathon.

The Nagoya Women’s Marathon is listed in the Guinness World Records as the largest all-women marathon in the world. Few French runners know it, and places for foreign women are limited.

At the finish, every runner receives a hand-made Baccarat crystal water glass. It is the tradition of the race.

Guinness World RecordBaccarat glass at the finishNagoya, Japan
Runners of the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in the streets of Nagoya
Nagoya Castle and its green roofs
Elisa Bernard, portrait in Nantes
Elisa

Why she is going.

33 years oldFrom NantesIntrovertHomebody10 years of running

Elisa Bernard, 33, has been running for over ten years. Based in Nantes, introverted and a homebody, she travels thanks to running. For a long time Japan meant Tokyo to her, until Gabriel, her agent, told her about Nagoya.

The plan is simple: reach the start line, run, and film the experience. Real training starts in November, with a personal best in mind.

Funding

No crowdfunding.

Elisa is not running a public fundraiser, and that is a deliberate choice. The trip and the six nights on site can be covered by company partners, or by a patron who wants to back the whole project.

A brand can stand beside her with visibility that fits: logo on her kit, mentions in the videos, dedicated content. Everything is open to discussion.

partnerships@okalamstudio.com
Follow along

Everything will be on Elisa’s channels.

Training, the trip, the race and behind the scenes: videos on YouTube, daily life on Instagram.

YouTube →@elisaisrunningInstagram →@elisa_is_running

Race photo: 名古屋太郎, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.