Unlike the other five marathons in the World Marathon Majors, the 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. Five years later, in 2012, nearly 36,000 runners started the race which travels through the …
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Unlike the other five marathons in the World Marathon Majors, the 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. Five years later, in 2012, nearly 36,000 runners started the race which travels through the main tourist attractions of Tokyo.
Historically, Japan is known for its elite marathon races with very strict qualifying standards. Many mass races are also held throughout the nation. But they are, in most part, separate races that cater to different types of runners. At the present time, no other mass marathon in Japan, with the exception of the Tokyo Marathon, has an extensive elite field, and no other elite marathon has such a huge participatory field like the Tokyo Marathon. Thus, the Tokyo Marathon is a very unique marathon in Japan; it is the only marathon in Japan that matches both the elite field depth and mass participation base of the other major marathons in the world.
The Tokyo Marathon is also unique in one other respect. Through its theme, “One Step Ahead,” it symbolizes how each and every person enthusiastically advances step by step, in their own unique way. The Tokyo Marathon is also steadily moving forward to provide people with the joy of running and what lies beyond it.
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Great World Major
Course: extremely fast that felt much faster than Chicago with the first 5k being downhill Logistically: it is not the easiest race to navigate before or afterwards. Much more difficult … MORE
Course: extremely fast that felt much faster than Chicago with the first 5k being downhill
Logistically: it is not the easiest race to navigate before or afterwards. Much more difficult than NYC
Swag: other than the post-race robe, the rest of the swag left a lot to be desired. The medal may be the smallest I’ve ever gotten and the race entry does not include a shirt. You must pre-order it well before
Expo: a very large and nice expo. However, it is chaos trying to purchase official race merchandise where many items sold out within minutes
Well supported course with strict cutoff
As one of the 6 world majors, getting into the race is not easy. But the race now has charity entry spots making it easier to gain entry. Expo packet … MORE
As one of the 6 world majors, getting into the race is not easy. But the race now has charity entry spots making it easier to gain entry.
Expo packet pick up lines are long for certain groups (charity runners?), for other groups, short. Especially on day 1. If you want official branded merchandise get there when it opens and fight the crowd. There was >1hr wait to enter the merchandise area after packet pickup, and I arrived at the expo 30 min before it opened. (although I did get a slow line for packet p/u).
Race shirts are available for purchase, but are an extra cost, and the sizes run small. (Japanese 3x is more like a US XL)
No drinks (other than small boxed water) is allowed in the start area, so drink down before you arrive.
The corrals move efficiently to the start, but you are in a mass mob. It will carry you along for the first few miles before it begins to thin out.
The race course is pretty flat. There are a few rolling hills, but none are very high or long.
Course support is excellent! The aid stations are divided into 5 groups, based on the last digit of your bib number (but many runners couldn’t figure that out.) Pocari Sweat was the electrolyte of the race. Plenty of porta potties and restrooms along the way. The early ones can have lines of up to 20 minutes! (They list wait times at the entrance to the area.)
The cutoffs for the race are real. The second cutoff is probably the hardest for slower runners. Overall it is about a 14:15 pace (or so) to meet all of the cutoffs.)
The exit to the race is a little bit of a maze. You are routed out based on your bib color. So if you are meeting family or friends, figure out where you will be exiting, or meet up at the family area. (which I never found.)
Make sure you give yourself several more days post race to explore the city and/or country!! (I explored Tokyo and Osaka this trip.)
Need to consider wave starts
The start is a chaotic with runners shoving and pushing. I was knocked down accidemtly and fell on my head and knee; could not finish the race. With about 38,000 … MORE
The start is a chaotic with runners shoving and pushing. I was knocked down accidemtly and fell on my head and knee; could not finish the race. With about 38,000 runners, and one street — along with time cut-offs and a 7 hour limit — they need to consider wave starts at least for the safety’s sake.
Tokyo - the Robe is EPIC
Expo: Very controversial. They don’t make a lot of gear. It is usually sold out pretty quickly on the first day. If this is important to you, you should buy … MORE
Expo: Very controversial. They don’t make a lot of gear. It is usually sold out pretty quickly on the first day. If this is important to you, you should buy whatever you can in advance. I bought the race T-shirt in advance and was content. Others were very upset. There was mass chaos over jackets at the expo. The expo had lots of photo opp areas. Non Tokyo Marathon gear was available. Getting the bibs etc. was a smooth process on Day 2.
Course: Nice flat course with ample support along the way. There are some out and backs. I know the very fast runners can sometimes find the turns frustrating but I loved that I got a glimpse of the elites as they ran through. I ran for DMHC and they had 11 cheer stations along the course to support DMHC runners. Bins were available at the start to discard clothing. Allow yourself 45 minutes or so if you need a restroom before the race. I didn’t think the restroom situation was as dire as some have expressed in the past.
My Garmin said I ran almost 26.8 miles. I’m used to a lot of races that have drink stations on both sides of the path so I always gravitate right. I think this caused me to put the extra distance in since they were all on the left.
Post Race: The medal is very nice. The post race robe is epic. I love it! My swag score would probably be lower without it. The post race drinks and snacks were nothing to write home about. I wish they had protein to offer after. You have to buy the race T-shirt separate (I feel like most include it).
I ran for DMHC and they had a nice post race event with food, drinks and even a chance to meet Ronald McDonald. 🙂 It was a great event but be prepared to walk a bit after the race to get there.
City: Tokyo is a great city! There are lots of things to do. Do your best to understand the train lines before you go. I stayed in Shinjuku. This was great access to the Start of the race. The train station is HUGE and I found it very confusing at first. After a few days I got my bearings and figured it out. I was never able to get money into my Suica card in Apple wallet (it doesn’t like Visa cards). I got Yen when I arrived and was able to get a physical Suica card and fill it with the cash.
The time change didn’t have a massive impact on me there. I’m thankful for that. I know that isn’t always the case. I was in Tokyo for 6 days which was sufficient if you have limited vacation time and a family at home like me.
Registering: My experience is through the charity route. Some of the social media pages can be helpful for timing etc. (World Marathon Majors is a good one). 100,000 yen (around $700 when I applied) is the minimum but it is a bidding process. You submit your amount and you pay it if you get in. If you need to fundraise you need to think through how you handle this. Since I love RMHC (DMHC in Japan) I knew this was the charity for me. I also knew that I really wanted to run this race in 2024 so I bid above the minimum at a point that I felt pretty sure about getting in.
Not the best Major
I don't think I have much to add that the other reviewers have already said. No health tracking app this year. All the official Asics race swag was sold out … MORE
I don’t think I have much to add that the other reviewers have already said. No health tracking app this year. All the official Asics race swag was sold out when I arrived at the expo on day 2. Major bummer. Expo was a bit of a disappointment. There are toilets at the start. There are clothing bins drops on the lead up to the start line. The website is hugely lacking in any information about the race for runners.
It was fun and interesting to visit Tokyo. So very clean and well organized.
Nice but not outstanding as othee majors
Nice race within a beautiful city with nevrotic countermeasures against corona. The track is nice but with many miles are run twice in both directions, so it could be improved. … MORE
Nice race within a beautiful city with nevrotic countermeasures against corona. The track is nice but with many miles are run twice in both directions, so it could be improved. Nonsense the prohibition to bring its owns water bottle. The worst major expo I have ever seen, the t-shirts (not included in the race swag) had been sold out in few hours of the first day. Poor medal considered it is a major.
Awesome! Got my Sixth Star!
"Repeat" because I broke my foot in Tokyo 2019 at mile 18. Then pandemic hit in 2020 so race was cancelled. In 2023, international runners were able to participate Tokyo … MORE
“Repeat” because I broke my foot in Tokyo 2019 at mile 18. Then pandemic hit in 2020 so race was cancelled. In 2023, international runners were able to participate Tokyo marathon. I would do this race again even tho it’s kinda chaotic the first 10k since everyone is trying to beat the cutoffs.
Glad to have run, but not a spectacle
Superbly organised for over 36,000 runners. Very glad to have entered and run. About 10 degrees on the day, which helped. Great fellow runners and watching crowd. Lots of lops … MORE
Superbly organised for over 36,000 runners. Very glad to have entered and run. About 10 degrees on the day, which helped. Great fellow runners and watching crowd. Lots of lops so constantly see those ahead and behind,
which I am not a fan of. Tokyo has some great sites but the route I primarily a concentre and neon jungle with not using some of the spectacles you could see. So a great run just not an iconic run.
Least Favourite of the Majors
Loved Japan, loved the city of Tokyo, loved the course volunteers. This race is well organized as everyone says. However....was not fond of not being able to carry my own … MORE
Loved Japan, loved the city of Tokyo, loved the course volunteers. This race is well organized as everyone says. However….was not fond of not being able to carry my own water. All of the other major allow it. It is quite a crowded course so going into the water stop tables becomes a high risk move.
Initially they were not going to allow for clothing to be dropped at the start line. Race organizers eventually relented at the last minute. Thank Goodness as it was chilly at the start and you do have to be there early to jump all the covid and security hoops.
They didn’t allow for runners with Tour groups to have finish line bag drop, which seemed goofy as they already had that organization in place, a few hundred more wasn’t going to be that difficult. The robe they provide helps but not enough.
The crowds were great but the course is a concrete jungle, it doesn’t have the boroughs or neighborhood feels of NYC, London, or Chicago.
Other than water and Pocari Sweat no other post race nutrition, not even a piece of fruit or cookie, NOTHING!! Again the problem of having no bag drop where runners could have stashed a snack.
The race wanted you carry everything. They mandated carrying cell phone, they wanted you to carry post race clothes, post race snack. I was envisioning needing wheel barrow for this race.
This is a race you really want to love but the hurdles put in by the Tokyo Marathon Foundation are a significant hinderance.
Good race with significant negatives
I have run 40 marathons including the 6 majors, so I have some data points for comparison. Overall, the Tokyo Marathon was a positive experience with some significant negatives too. … MORE
I have run 40 marathons including the 6 majors, so I have some data points for comparison. Overall, the Tokyo Marathon was a positive experience with some significant negatives too.
NEGATIVES: Getting these out of the way first: The health tracking cell phone app was a source of considerable frustration and anxiety. It crashed on me three times, giving me the white screen of death. One crash was when entering the expo – which caused me to spend 45 minutes at the help desk getting it reinstalled and functional. Other people I spoke to had similar issues, though most did not. Based on a very limited sample size, I’d estimate the failure rate to be about 5%. Fortunately, even though the app crashed the morning of the race, it sprang back to life at the race entrance, avoiding my worst case scenario of being denied the opportunity to run. However, since I got to the starting area about 7:15 to give plenty of time to resolve app issues, I spent 2 hours in the cold. Hopefully, for all involved, the app will not be required next year.
The expo was a major disappointment (for reference I arrived about 11:00 Thursday). After spending 45 minutes at the help disk fighting with the app, I spent about an hour in line to get the bib. Since all international runners were assigned to lanes 15-21, the lines were long and slow. Lanes 1 to 14 were virtually empty – very annoying.
The lines to enter the merchandise areas were so long I didn’t even attempt to enter. The line to pick up the race tee shirt was probably and hour long. Proof of purchase, using another cell phone app I assume, was required. Glad I didn’t order the shirt. The expo is configured in a manner that you must walk through the entire concourse (similar to an IKEA).
On race morning I got in line for a block of toilets (labeled as “western style”) an hour before the corrals closed. I eventually made it with about 5 minutes to spare. These toilets were near the D and E corrals, so toilets elsewhere in the starting area may had shorter lines. They have toilet monitors that direct people to the next available toilet as they come open.
POSITIVES: The race itself was exceptionally well organized and run. Even though there was no sort of wave start, the wide streets (often 6 lanes, no less than 3) allowed enough room to move around slower runners without too much trouble. Within 1 or 2 km I had hit my stride and could maintain my pace without problems. There were no pot holes or tripping hazards anywhere on the course (median strips excepted). I appreciated the countdown to the finish, with I km markers starting 5 km from the finish line.
The course itself was nothing to write home about – several out-and-back sections through a dense city landscape. It was fun to see the elite runners go by on the opposite side. It was very sad to see some of the trailing runners getting swept up.
The water stops were well organized, and each had a small army of volunteers. Tables were in 5 sets, with the intent of having those with bib numbers ending in 1&2 stop at one set, 3&4 at the next, etc. I’m not sure how many adhered to this policy. There were separate sets of tables for water and Pocari Sweat. Not being allowed to carry water bottles or running packs made water stops a requirement. Pocari Sweat was a very good sports drink for me, as good or better than any others I’ve had. I had bought some in advance to try out before the race.
The finish was well organized with another army of volunteers to assist. It was a bit of a hike, but not too different from NYC. I got a bag with a water bottle and some Pocari Sweat to start with. Then farther down the line got some sports gel, and a tangerine. Then there was the clothing pickup area. Next came the thermal blankets, and finally the hooded terry cloth robes that are unique to Tokyo. At the end were a group of changing tents before the exit to the meet & greet area and bus access.
So in summary – a well organized race made possible by a huge army of friendly helpful volunteers. I would have enjoyed it more without the anxiety about the health tracking app, but that was largely due to my own attitude problem. Don’t set your heart on a thrilling expo experience, and plan on 3-4 hours just to take care of the basics. But if you can afford the expense, I recommend this race experience.
Great course but crowded
The course itself is nice and would lend itself to a PR but not if you are in the later corrals. The crowd never seemed to thin out. All of … MORE
The course itself is nice and would lend itself to a PR but not if you are in the later corrals. The crowd never seemed to thin out. All of the pre-race requirements resulted in lots of extra anxiety- in addition to cutoffs, app to track temps and wifi needed on race day to verify results and poor crowd management at Expo. As well as no liquids to carry allowed – couldn’t find any containers small enough. Made me wonder if they want to be a world major and have international runners. Maybe they aren’t quite ready post COVID, perhaps Abbott should reassess periodically.
Nervous and Anxious
Make sure to read in detail all the guidelines for the race. There were so many this year that it added stress. Give yourself enough time to get to your … MORE
Make sure to read in detail all the guidelines for the race. There were so many this year that it added stress. Give yourself enough time to get to your corral. We went through 4 checkpoints. Make sure to carry your own fuel. Be aware bathrooms could be located 3 blocks off the course…the one at mile 18 was far…lost about 5 minutes. Enjoy the people and the course. Check the course map out ahead of time to find landmarks. Also, there’s entertainment throughout the course, but it may be set back from the course. If you hear drums, music, etc…look for it so you don’t miss it. Be aware you’ll have several out and backs so you turn around in the road to go back. At one point, you’ll see the elites running towards you.
Challenging race endless concrete jungle
challenging race- not allowed to carry own water bottle/water, had to carry cellphone the whole race as app required to gain entry to start corrals, soulless course through endless concrete … MORE
challenging race- not allowed to carry own water bottle/water, had to carry cellphone the whole race as app required to gain entry to start corrals, soulless course through endless concrete jungle, almost no live music, poor atmosphere. Many boring out and backs.
Arigato gozaimasu, Tokyo!
As someone else said in a review of 2023 race, the bib pickup was sub-optimal. Almost all foreign runners had to pickup their bibs from a limited number of booths, … MORE
As someone else said in a review of 2023 race, the bib pickup was sub-optimal. Almost all foreign runners had to pickup their bibs from a limited number of booths, while the majority of booths were empty. This lead to long waits on a concrete floor so my hips were killing me after 2+ hours. Another long queue to get into the Asics store at the expo too (I didn’t bother) as I just wanted to get out of there!
The race itself was excellent.
Easy to get to the start (I stayed in Ginza close to the finish line) via the free metro ticket which was valid for 24 hours (I used it the day before too to get maximum usage).
A little tricky to find my starting corral as I had missed a sign held by a volunteer but I asked one of many volunteers who pointed me in the right direction.
Long queues for the bathrooms too in the starting area so I opted to use one on course to avoid the stress of missing the gun.
The course is extremely flat with barely any up/down except for a downhill around kilometer 4 (I think).
Lots of our & back legs on the course are not my favourite feature but probably a necessary evil of course management and limiting the number of roads closed in a very busy city.
My fifth world major, a BQ for me and definitely an experience not to be missed!
Fabulous Tokyo Marathon 2023
This turned out to be my favorite race so far. We had to jump through so many hoops to participate in this race...Health Apps to record our temperature for several … MORE
This turned out to be my favorite race so far. We had to jump through so many hoops to participate in this race…Health Apps to record our temperature for several days, 2 x Covid Test, a final temperature at the entrance to your corral. I pass everything so I was allowed to run!
The course has 4 out and backs which became boring. However they had nice cultural on course entertainment.
I am a back of the pack runner so the strict cut off times were a concern. I ran the 1st half faster than usual to build a cushion. This lead to a PR!
There is no real food on the course except for a pouch of “Apple Jelly” which I didn’t eat. I packed all my on course food…thank goodness I didn’t drop anything.
At the finish line we were given: beautiful robe, 1 bottle water, 1 bottle of sports drink Pocari Sweet, and one small pouch of “Body Conditioning” (I didn’t eat). No banana! I wish I would have paid for the bag drop so that I could have packed some post race food. I was so hungry after the race.
All in All this was an amazing race!
I definitely recommend this race because the Japanese people are welcoming and friendly. Tokyo is also a very safe and easy to navigate city.
Unique year to run this race
I believe that this year's race (2023) will be unlike previous and future occurrences of this event. So please keep that in mind with my recap below. Japan in general … MORE
I believe that this year’s race (2023) will be unlike previous and future occurrences of this event. So please keep that in mind with my recap below. Japan in general and the race specifically had many protocols in place due to COVID.
Traveling to and within Japan: Additional pre-arrival step required to show proof of vaccination. Masking indoors and outdoors remains nearly universal throughout Tokyo.
Race COVID related protocols (this year):
-Runners had to download a health app and register daily temperature starting 10 days prior to race day
-At the expo the “goody” bag included some flyers, a mask, and 2 COVID tests. [Race shirts were optional and needed to be purchased.]
-The COVID tests needed to be taken prior to race day and recorded in the app
-On race day, runners were SUPPOSED to use hand sanitizer (provided on the course) prior to grabbing anything from the aid station. Compliance looked low to me.
-On race day, runners were SUPPOSED to go to the aid table corresponding to the final number on their bib. Again, compliance looked low to me on this. And, as the race went on, those first tables were all out of liquids so everyone was forced to later tables anyway
-On race day, masks were required in the start area through the crossing of the start line. And masks were required after crossing the finish line.
Expo:
-I traveled with a tour group (Marathon Tours – which I use for most of my international races and would recommend). I believe that international tour groups were recommended to go to the expo the first day (Thursday). I had one of the worst expo experiences of my 125+ marathons/half marathons. There were 21 stations for bib pickup. Stations 1 through 16 had volunteers but no runners waiting. Stations 17 through 21 had volunteers but a ton of runners waiting. My line took 1 hour to get through. From what I heard, over the next couple of days, runners’ expo experiences greatly varied by the time they arrived–some sailed through quickly, some encountered long lines.
-Next I waited 3 hours to get into the official store. After about 2 hours, I thought I was close when the line suddenly went outside. By then I felt I had invested so much time, I couldn’t leave! [But that was my choice.] Even though it was the first day, many of the shirts were already sold out. Oddly, there were no official jackets or race hats this year. That was disappointing. After waiting the 3 hours I did buy a shirt–even though I bought the biggest size, it is aspirational. I hope I can fit into it one day! 😂
-It was unclear to me (and others) that there was another whole level of the expo (downstairs). I didn’t spend much time going through that area as I was wiped out by then.
Race day:
-After my experience at the Expo I was scared about race morning. It wasn’t too bad. Yes, there were lines to get into the start gates and then start corrals–runners had to show their health app, get their temperature taken, and go through security–but it was (relatively) efficient.
-Port-o-potties: Be aware that at the start and throughout the race there was a mix of “western” and “Japanese” style toilets. On the course I thought that they did an excellent job to highlighting what style each stop was and how far it was to the next stop.
-I was in the last corral (L), so I was nervous about how long it was going to take to get across the start line. It took exactly 30 minutes from after the gun went off. Because the Tokyo Marathon has 8 strict cutoff points, based on gun time, I had to do what you are not supposed to do–go out too fast and pull back later. I knew this going in and I believe that the race organization is quite clear about these requirements. I know some people in our tour group got pulled, I don’t know how many overall were cutoff.
-I mentioned a bit about the aid stations above, but I will also point out that there were a lot of them, which I appreciated.
-Race course was relatively flat, city streets the whole time.
-Amazing sites to see as you run through the city.
-I had heard that there are normally big crowds–but that wasn’t my experience. I found that there weren’t a lot of spectators this year. [This might be just an off year due to the COVID protocols.]
-The volunteers were great! High spirited.
-After the finish line, runners picked up a bag with water but no food. There was some sort of squeeze thing that was supposed to be food-like, but I didn’t try it.
-International runners (or at least those of us with tour companies) had a bus back to the start, which was a great thing to have.
Other notes:
-I stayed at the Tokyo Hilton, which was great. Nice hotel, at a good location. Very close to the start area.
-The Saturday Friendship Run only had a physical finish line (no start line–because of COVID protocols). There were only a small number of bibs available and was sold out by the time I tried to sign up.
-The food in Tokyo was great!
-The people were all extremely nice.
-Everything (except the expo 😂) is extremely efficient. After those 8 cutoff times, things are broken down quickly. By the time the bus get us back to the start, you couldn’t even tell there had been a race there that morning.
Bonus:
Due to no race in 2020 and limited runners in 2021 and 2022, this year had a lot of runners looking to get their Abbott World Major Sixth Star. According to Abbott, “The 2023 Tokyo Marathon set a new Guinness World Records title for the most people to earn a Six Star medal at a single marathon. 3,033 runners earned their Six Star Medal, smashing the previous record set in Tokyo in 2019 of 732.” It was inspiring to see and I congratulate all the Six Star finishers (I have one more star – Boston – to go!).
At the end of the day, I’m super excited that I completed this race. It was not only my 5th World Major Star, it was also my 7th continent. I’m glad I did the race…there’s just that small part of me that would have liked to experience the Tokyo Marathon that past participants experienced. Their experience seemed to have been just a little bit better.
Good race, arrive early
I ran in 2023 which required installing and using a health app daily for 10 days. The expo had a limited amount of official Asics race apparel. I chose not … MORE
I ran in 2023 which required installing and using a health app daily for 10 days. The expo had a limited amount of official Asics race apparel. I chose not to wait in line for two hours to get into the booth to see it. They sold out of all shirts before the end of the first day of the expo. Asics or the race decided not to produce an official race jacket in 2023.
Runners received a bib and shoe timing chip at the expo (along with two covid test kits in 2023). After the race, runners received a medal, heat sheet, sweatshirt like material poncho, and a recovery bag that had two drinks and some sort of food item in a squeeze pouch. Every runner did not automatically get a race shirt. Those had to be reserved and purchased (with limited availability).
The race did not allow any handheld bottles or hydration vest bladders. I ordered Pocari Sweat online in advance of race day to practice using it. There were plenty of well manned fluid stations along the race. There are also plenty of porta potties along the route. I did not need these but be aware that some of several (200+) meters off the course and can have wait times of 10+ minutes.
I was assigned corral G and I think it took me about 15 minutes to cross the start line. This gap is important if you’re a slower runner because the course has multiple cut off spots that are based on gun time. I was fine but someone who is in corral L will need to be mindful to not waste time on the course.
The course is all city streets. Their streets are very well maintained. There was not even one pothole along the entire course. There are a lot of out and backs so you will be running on one side of the road while seeing other runners on the other side. The scenery is a mix of big city buildings with some iconic landmarks thrown in. There is a lot of crowd support but don’t expect to have spectators yell your name out loud. There is a variety of course entertainment too.
The medal and poncho are definitely worth keeping. The only thing I wish was different was not having any substantial food item in my bag. I noticed in the finish area that they might have had oranges earlier in the day. They were all gone by the time I finished.
This race is a WMM sleeper, folks.
When I first decided to pursue the Six Star medal, I had already done Boston twice and was just about to run the 2016 New York Marathon for the first … MORE
When I first decided to pursue the Six Star medal, I had already done Boston twice and was just about to run the 2016 New York Marathon for the first time. It had always been my understanding that Tokyo and Chicago were the weakest majors of the six and Boston and NYC were the crème de la crème of all races. I remember going into my first Chicago with tempered expectations and came out thinking it was awesome – so I went into Tokyo taking the opinions of other runners with a grain of salt.
First of all, the city is great and very beautiful. Not a lot of English is spoken outside of the hotel concierge, so there is a little bit of a barrier there. The sushi and ramen is (needless to say) unbelievable, and so is the shopping. I stayed in Shinjuku, so the trek to the start line was easy. The restroom lines at the start of the race are otherworldly long, and I heard you definitely don’t want to use the restrooms while racing because they have lines, are a couple of blocks off the course and are primitive. Since I didn’t need them while I was racing, this was a non-issue. The weather was lousy, but that is about all I can complain about. The race was well-organized, the street surfaces are as nice as you will ever run on, the water stations were clean and orderly and the crowds were interesting and enthusiastic. The finish is kinda nondescript, but the support of the volunteers was really appreciated. Reflecting back on this race, it was my very favorite until I ran London a couple of months later.
In short, don’t let some know-it-all ruin this race for you before you ever run it. I thought it was awesome.
Great course. Start line is messy.
Loved the city scenery on the course, although I do I wish it was on all new roads the entire time instead of an out-and-back after the 10k mark. Start … MORE
Loved the city scenery on the course, although I do I wish it was on all new roads the entire time instead of an out-and-back after the 10k mark.
Start line is very messy and it was hard to even get a spot in the corral, so maybe some additional waves would be better.
Tokyo - Fast Race with Smiling Faces
I’d highly recommend this fast race through an ultra clean & friendly city! As a slower, interval runner that started way back in a slower pace group, I was constantly … MORE
I’d highly recommend this fast race through an ultra clean & friendly city! As a slower, interval runner that started way back in a slower pace group, I was constantly working to beat the aggressive and oddly placed cut-offs throughout the race, although I was impressed they had count down clock at each cut-off to show how close you are to the cut-off time, so no math was required! Hooray! Don’t worry – all of the cut offs are clearly outlined in the handbook. I started with a bit of a delay not reaching the starting line until 20 min into the race due to the large number of runners, but I made it! Overall, this race is flat, fast and has excellent support on the course! It was great to have a few areas of “out and back” where you could see the top runners at the front of the race for a shot of inspiration! What impressed me the most about the race was the enthusiasm of the race volunteers, even for the back of the pack runners like me. Even though it rained the ENTIRE race, they never lost their spirit to cheer for every runner! Several Japanese groups danced and played music along the route giving lots of entertainment. Was great to see early blooming cherry blossoms amid the route! I didn’t try the electrolyte they offered in the race, called “Sweat” but there were plenty of aid stations. Finish line was not in sight until the last 100m so was hard to stay motivated at end but I did truly appreciated how they had signs to “count down” the distance towards the end of the race to help keep you focused. After having an incredible lift seeing my amazing friends for the 1st time close to the finish line, and then crossing that line, achieving my goal of running on all 7 continents, I was on a high and then quickly & harshly brought back to reality to then have to walk a loooonnngggg way (almost a mile) on a cold, windy path with lots of uncertain turns that kept me questioning if I should really be following the runners in front of me, all to get back to the bus depot to catch a shuttle that dropped me off fairly close to my hotel. I wasn’t exactly prepared for that part, but a hot shower soon after cured all! I did find many friendly fellow runners in the race as well, as you’ll often find in the back of pack, so it wasn’t lonely running on my own at all. I’m amazed at how such a huge city could keep their streets so clean & truly bring the most enthusiastic people out to work the event and cheer for people they didn’t even know, but Tokyo exceeded my expectations of a global marathon in a major city! Arigato Tokyo!