Tokyo Marathon


The Tokyo Marathon is an annual marathon sporting event in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. It is an World Athletics Platinum Label marathon and one of the six World Marathon Majors. The latest edition of the race took place on 3 March 2019. It is sponsored by Tokyo Metro.

History

The first Tokyo Marathon was held on 18 February 2007. However, years prior to 2007, Tokyo Marathon actually consisted of two marathons - the Tokyo International Marathon which took place on even years, and Tokyo - New York Friendship International Marathon which took place on odd years. In the inaugural year, 1981, both marathons took place. However, because it was not possible to support two marathons a month apart in the same city, from 1982, the alternating format went into effect.
The 2007 marathon was also a representative selection race of the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka. The total number of participants was set at 30,000. Of that, 25,000 people signed up for the marathon, and 5,000 signed up for the 10K run.
Masakazu Fujiwara became the race's first Japanese male winner at the fourth edition.
The 2011 Tokyo Marathon was held on Sunday, 27 February 2011. It was the first Tokyo Marathon in which the weather was not rainy.
In February 2014, Dickson Chumba won in a record time of 2:05:42. This was only the second time a runner ran below 2h06 in Japan, after Tsegaye Kebede in Fukuoka Marathon. His runner-up, Tadese Tola did also run below 2:06, in a time of 2:05:57.
The 2020 Tokyo Marathon was canceled for the general public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those athletes were given a deferral. Elite athletes were still invited to participate. Rock musician Hyde composed an inspirational song titled "Believe in Myself" for the 2020 event.

Numbers of applicants and runners

When registrations closed for the 2015 Tokyo marathon 308,810 people had applied for the full marathon, and 1,014 had applied for the 10 km race. This gave a total number of 309,824 applicants and an oversubscription rate of 11.3 for the marathon.
For the 2019 event, there were 331,211 applicants. 330,271 of the applications were for the full marathon and 940 were for the 10 km race.

Elite runners

Apart from the invited athletes, runners registered with JAAF who satisfy the following requirement can register in the Elite field.
In 2014, the requirements were:

Men

2017–

-> Iidabashi -> Nihonbashi -> Asakusa -> Koto -> Nihonbashi -> Ginza -> Shinagawa -> Hibiya Park -> Tokyo Station

2007–2016

-> Tokyo Imperial Palace -> Hibiya Park -> Shinagawa -> Ginza -> Nihonbashi -> Asakusa -> Tsukiji -> Tokyo Big Sight

Winners

Key:
YearMen's winnerCountryTimeWomen's winnerCountryTime
2020Birhanu Legese2:04:15Lonah Chemtai Salpeter2:17:45
2019Birhanu Legese2:04:48Ruti Aga2:20:40
2018Dickson Chumba2:05:30Birhane Dibaba2:19:51
2017Wilson Kipsang2:03:58Sarah Chepchirchir2:19:47
2016Feyisa Lilesa2:06:56Helah Kiprop2:21:27
2015Endeshaw Negesse2:06:00Birhane Dibaba2:23:15
2014Dickson Chumba2:05:42Tirfi Tsegaye2:22:23
2013Dennis Kimetto2:06:50Aberu Kebede2:25:34
2012Michael Kipyego2:07:37Atsede Habtamu2:25:28
2011Hailu Mekonnen2:07:35Noriko Higuchi2:28:49
2010Masakazu Fujiwara2:12:19Alevtina Biktimirova2:34:39
2009Salim Kipsang2:10:27Mizuho Nasukawa2:25:38
2008Viktor Röthlin2:07:23Claudia Dreher2:35:35
2007Daniel Njenga2:09:45Hitomi Niiya2:31:02