As the only Asian marathon in the World Marathon Majors (WMM), Tokyo Marathon started as a massive race from its first year. Over 25,000 runners finished the Tokyo Marathon in its inaugural year of 2007.
Bringing Almost 2 Million People Under One Race
Seven years later, the Tokyo Marathon in 2014 saw over 36,000 athletes crossing the start line on a cool, overcast day in Japan’s capital city. Kenya’s Dickson Chumba and Ethiopia’s Tirfi Tsegaye won their first WMM event titles in style, posting course records of 2 hours 5 minutes 42 seconds, and 2 hours 22 minutes 23 seconds, respectively.
But it was not just about the elite winners or the 36,000 chosen runners, but the 10,000 volunteers and 1,630,000 cheering spectators as well. The Tokyo Marathon unites people and makes a great contribution to provide a dream to society.
Run and See Tokyo’s Past, Present and Future
The Tokyo Marathon 2015 will have 2 categories: the 42.195 km Marathon, as well as the 10 km Race.
The Tokyo Marathon route symbolises the past, present and future of Tokyo. Runners will enjoy the sights of the Imperial Palace, the Tokyo Tower, as well as the Asakusa Kaminarimon Gate, the oldest temple in Tokyo with its trademark large lantern. Average temperatures in February hover at around 7.0 degrees Celsius for the past decade in Tokyo, which will be pleasantly cool to run in.
Historically, Japan is known for elite marathon races with very strict qualifying standards. At the present time, no mass marathon races in Japan except the Tokyo Marathon have an extensive elite field, and no elite marathons have such a huge field except for the Tokyo Marathon.
Thus the Tokyo Marathon is a very unique marathon in Japan; it is the only marathon in Japan which can match in both scale and course records with the major marathons in the world.
The Tokyo Marathon’s atmosphere is truly electrifying. Join in the fun and see the beautiful city of Tokyo transformed into a runner’s paradise!
The Tokyo Marathon 2015 will take place on February 22 next year. Registrations will open from 1 to 31 August 2014. Entry fees are JPY ¥12,800 (approx. USD $126) for foreign marathon runners.
