The Tokyo Marathon (東京マラソン, Tokyo Marason) is an annual marathon sporting event in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. It is an IAAF Gold Label marathon and one of the six World Marathon Majors.[1] The latest edition of the race took place on Sunday February 28, 2016. 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.[2]
The 2011 Tokyo Marathon was held on Sunday, 27 February 2011. It was the first Tokyo Marathon in which the weather was not rainy.
On 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 (December 6, 2009). His runner-up, Tadese Tola did also run below 2:06, in a time of 2:05:57.[3]
Numbers of applicants and runners
Runners taking part in the 2008 Tokyo Marathon
When registrations closed for the 2015 Tokyo marathon 308,810 people had applied for the full marathon, and 1,014 had applied for the 10km race. This gave a total number of 309,824 applicants and an oversubscription rate of 11.3 for the marathon.[4]
Elite runners
Apart from the invited athletes, runners registered with JAAF who satisfy the following requirement can register in the Elite field.[5]
In 2014, the requirements were:
Men: Full Marathon 2:23, Half Marathon 1:01:30, 10K (Road) 28:10
Women: Full Marathon 2:54:00, Half Marathon 1:11:00, 10K (Road) 32:10
Course
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building -> Tokyo Imperial Palace -> Hibiya Park (10km Finish) -> Shinagawa -> Ginza -> Nihonbashi -> Asakusa -> Tsukiji -> Tokyo Big Sight (Full Marathon Finish)
Winners
Fun runners finishing the 2012 race
Key:
Course record
See also
References
External links
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Ethiopia 
Kenya 
Japan
Russia
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Germany
