Running the Tokyo Marathon
Take on the streets of Tokyo on this superbly-supported marathon through Japan’s capital city
The Tokyo Marathon takes place in late February/ early March and takes you on a beautiful 26.2-mile tour of Japan’s capital city. Starting in the incredible Shinjuku City, the route takes you past monuments such as the Sky Tree and Tokyo Tower, through the streets of upmarket Ginza, and finishes outside the Imperial Palace.
With thronging support for the entire length of the course and some genuinely memorable cheer stations, you’ll be energised throughout the race.
The Tokyo Marathon is one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors and is an unforgettable experience.
So, if you’re considering running the Tokyo Marathon, here’s what you need to know.
Tokyo Marathon Application Process
The Tokyo Marathon is one of the toughest Abbott World Marathon Majors to get into, especially for overseas runners. While there are multiple ways to apply, the five main routes open to most runners are the general ballot, a charity entry, using a tour operator, being drawn after participating in a virtual event or being drawn as part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors lottery.
General Ballot
There were around 35k participants in the 2024 edition of the Tokyo Marathon, a steady increase in recent years. That said, getting a place through the general ballot — which opens in August — is extremely tough.
The drawing process favours Tokyo residents (who enter a first draw) and Japan residents (who enter a second draw alongside any Tokyo residents not drawn in the first draw). Tokyo and Japan residents who are not drawn in the second draw then enter a third draw alongside all international applicants. So you can see, as an international runner, the odds are stacked against you, and in any given year, the chances of success are less than 2%.
Charity
However, the charity route for running the Tokyo Marathon is by far the most reasonably priced of all Abbott World Marathon Majors events — but the process is unique.
Charity applications for the Tokyo Marathon open before the general ballot in June, and bibs are announced by the end of July. So you can’t use a charity application as a backup if you’re unsuccessful in the general ballot.
Each charity is allocated a fixed number of bibs, and the application process uses a single-price blind auction to allocate them. The minimum bid is JPY 100,000 (about USD 660 or GBP 525 as of March 2024), and the highest bids are allocated bibs in descending order.
Charities may use a tie-breaker if they receive multiple bids of the same amount. The tie-breaker isusually either a motivation letter or allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
You can only apply for one charity; multiple applications will void your bid.
When you’re successful, you must pay your bid upfront — no fundraising support is provided. You can raise the money yourself, but your charity won’t help you.
Tour Operators
Tour operator applications are similar to every other Abbott World Marathon Majors race, and you should contact companies that serve your country of residence for more information. Expect to pay somewhere in the region of USD 6,000 (GBP 5,000).
Virtual Events
The Tokyo Marathon operates a series of virtual races in the build-up to the Tokyo Marathon, typically 10 events whereby you must run a certain distance within a certain number of days. Entry costs JPY 1,000 per event (so they are very cheap), but each event only has 100 bibs allocated. So, while the odds of being drawn in any given virtual event are similar to the general ballot, you can get 10 more chances to gain a place to run the Tokyo Marathon by participating.
Abbott World Marathon Majors Lottery
If you’ve already run the other five Abbott World Marathon Majors events (i.e. Berlin Marathon, Boston Marathon, Chicago Marathon, London Marathon and New York City Marathon), you can also apply for a bib through the Abbott World Marathon Majors lottery, although again, the odds are pretty slim.
Time Qualifier Programme — Run as One
The Tokyo Marathon does have a semi-elite time qualifier programme, known as Run as One; however, the standards are beyond most marathoners, and there are only 25 bibs each for men and women.
Men must have run a 2:32:00 marathon, while women must have run a 3:19:00 marathon within the qualifying window of the previous two years.
So, these are the main ways you can enter the Tokyo Marathon. I went via a charity — Ronald McDonald House Charity (DMHC) — and they were brilliant. DMHC had the largest number of charity bibs on offer — 750 — and they work for a great cause, providing accommodation for the families of sick children while they’re being treated in the hospital.
I decided I was willing to bid GBP 1,000 for the bib, which was more than the minimum, and I was accepted. In 2024, anecdotally, most minimum bids were rejected, and people tended to bid 50%+ of the minimum to be sure of securing a place.
So, the best advice if you’re considering going down the charity route is to decide how much you’re willing to pay to support your charity and bid that amount. You can fundraise yourself after you’ve paid the bid to your charity, but you won’t get any support.
Pre-race Organisation
The Tokyo Marathon pre-race organisation is good, but you must understand that they do things differently.
When applying for anything — the marathon general ballot, a virtual race, a charity application — you’ll likely need to go through several stages of doing something online, then clicking an email link, waiting until a specific time window days or weeks later, then clicking another link to do something else online. You can’t just complete a process in one sitting. This is a little frustrating, but it’s okay when you’re used to it.
You may also go months without communication from the race organisers (or your charity), and again, this is normal. In the build-up to the race, the Tokyo Marathon social media accounts fire up with weekly (and then daily) countdowns, and you’ll receive the runner’s handbook in mid-February that contains the final race information.
Make sure you read this!
It’s amazing how many people asked simple questions in forums and then got upset when people pointed them to the handbook. Yes, some of the wording was a little clunky, but you could infer the meaning if you read it carefully.
Overall, the pre-race organisation was fine; it’s just different from what you might be used to.
Tokyo Marathon Expo
For me, the lowlight of the Tokyo Marathon was the expo.
I arrived at the Tokyo Big Sight venue at about noon on Day 1 (around two hours after it had opened) and had to queue for 90 minutes to receive my bib.
There were 22 bib collection desks, but for some reason, desks 1–4 had lines of hundreds of people each, while the other desks were virtually empty. A friend who arrived with me was dispatched to desk 18 and had her bib within 10 minutes. Desks 1–4 may have been reserved for charity runners, but they could’ve been much better organised.
The official Asics store was also a mess and had sold out of gear within 30 minutes of opening. When I arrived, queues took two hours to get in, and the available stock was either the odd branded trinket or shirts only in sizes XXL or XL remaining. It didn’t help that many people bought everything — three jackets, multiple t-shirts and shorts — and while they’re free to do so, many were on eBay within hours. Asics needs to sort themselves out for future Tokyo Marathons, as the expo was the only outlet in the whole of Tokyo carrying marathon-branded clothing, and it all sold out within minutes on Day 1.
The other retailers weren’t quite as poorly organised (the official Tokyo Marathon store was excellent), but it was baffling why brands like Saucony — which had a massive expo stall — only sold running shoes and none of their Tokyo Marathon-branded apparel.
After buying a Tokyo Marathon-branded cuddly toy, I left the expo as there was nothing else worth buying.
As an aside, the Tracksmith pop-up was just as poor — a 90-minute queue on Day 1 at the opening, virtually everything sold out before I got to the front of the line and after getting extremely lucky picking up some shorts and literally the last Tokyo Marathon-branded singlet in the whole of Japan, I had to wait another two hours to pay. They could’ve 3x or 5x their sales that weekend if they had the stock…
Tokyo Friendship Run
For the first time since 2019, the Tokyo Friendship Run took place in 2024. It is a 5k run and cultural experience on the Saturday before the marathon in Asakusa.
There were only 1,000 places, and for USD 55 for the event plus a medal, it wasn’t cheap.
The bib pick-up was before the event in a sports hall, which was nice to have somewhere warm to wait.
The opening ceremony took place on an adjacent sports track, with a local cheerleading squad and brass band playing tunes, followed by the infamous Japanese ‘radio exercise’ to warm up.
Lots of different nationalities were represented, with countries printed on the bibs. This made making friends easy and was a nice touch.
The run itself was low-key and at a very easy pace. Runners were split into five waves and then paced by a group of volunteers at around 9:30 mins/ mile (5:55 mins/ km). The course was narrow and shared with the public, so even if you wanted to go faster, it was challenging (although that didn’t stop some from trying…)
After the race, you could attend one of several cultural experiences you had been drawn for at the bib collection. There were origami lessons, rickshaw rides, tea ceremonies and other events, although I decided to skip my tea ceremony as there was a 90-minute wait between finishing the run and the start of the event.
The medal was lovely — similar in style to the Tokyo Marathon medal, just smaller — and the race experience was pleasant. I’m glad I chose to do this event, but I’d skip it and do something else if I were to run the Tokyo Marathon again.
Tokyo Marathon Start Line
The Tokyo Marathon begins at Shinjuku, near one of the world’s largest transport interchange stations. It is easily accessible from anywhere in the city as public transport is easy to use and abundant, and due to road closures, you should avoid taxis or private vehicles to get there.
Runners are allocated gate numbers based on their corral assignment and must enter through the designated gates. Bibs are checked on entry several times, including when passing through a security screening.
Bag drop is after security. Again, you’re assigned a bag drop number and must leave your bag at the correct location to be transported to the finish line.
In 2024, the toilet situation improved over previous years, with plenty of toilets in the area before the corrals. Banks of toilets were also accessible inside the corrals, although there was a 40-plus-minute wait to use them.
The starting area was large enough to let you jog around to warm up, but the start line was narrow and filled up very quickly when the corrals closed at 08:55. If you weren’t in place by this time, you’d really struggle to move forward.
Corrals were separated by volunteers holding ropes, and while the rolling start wasn’t quite as ‘big bang’ as when running the Boston Marathon, it did begin very quickly once the elites were set off.
Tokyo Marathon Course
The Tokyo Marathon course is characterised by many out-and-back segments and is very flat.
Officially, the elevation gain is 193ft (60m); however, my Garmin (and the watches of several other runners I spoke with) clocked about 4x this. I’d be inclined to go with the official estimate, as the tall buildings make getting an accurate GPS signal challenging, and besides a few humps going over bridges, there was no elevation to speak of.
Shinjuku — Chiyoda — Bunkyo — Taito
After starting in Shinjuku, the course heads east, skirting along the edge of Chiyoda and into Bunkyo. The first 5km or so are net downhill, but this is barely noticeable.
Expect to be boxed in for most of this section, as the streets are fairly narrow, and the rolling start means runners from further back are trying to stream forward.
The road surface through most of the Tokyo Marathon — especially the first few miles — is terrific and similar to running on a track. You’ll feel great setting off with a literal spring in your step.
After passing into Bunkyo and then Taito, you experience the first out-and-back segment. As there’s so much to see in Tokyo, these segments are not at all boring or repetitive and, in fact, arguably add to the energy of the event as big crowds line both sides of the street. I found plenty of room to turn at the apex and even caught a glimpse of Eliud Kipchoge coming back the other way.
Chiyoda — Chuo — Taito
The race route then heads back into Chiyoda and past Tokyo Station. There is a 10.7k running event at the same time as the marathon, and this is the point where the course splits and those running the shorter route peel off to the right while the marathoners keep left and follow the Sumida River through to Asakusa in Taito.
At Kaminairon Gate, you take on your second 180-degree turn, then a 90-degree left-hander into Sumida.
Sumida — Koto — Taito — Sumida
As you enter Sumida, you have a fantastic framed view of the Sky Tree. A kilometre later, you pass into neighbouring Koto, where you cross the race’s halfway point, performing another 180-degree turn at the Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine.
You then follow the road towards the Sky Tree and back over the bridge into Taito.
Taito — Chuo
After a short visit to Taito again, you enter Chuo and head to Ginza, Tokyo’s high-end shopping area. The tall buildings and the crowds are excellent through this segment, and after a few 90-degree turns, you pass the 35km mark and enter your seventh city, Minato.
Minato — Chiyoda
The segment through Minato is a long out-and-back stretch that takes you past the Tokyo Tower. As you re-enter Chiyoda for the last time, the streets turn from tarmac to paving, and while the surface is still smooth, it does feel different on tired legs.
After a final left-hand 90-degree turn, the finish line comes into sight, and you can push on to finish the Tokyo Marathon.
The exit funnel was probably another 1km long, where you get your medal, refreshments, food and the best Abbott World Marathon Majors poncho going!
Race Strategy
As the Tokyo Marathon doesn’t have any obvious relief to overcome — unlike running the Boston Marathon, where you’ve got to consider the Netwon Hills or the New York City Marathon with its multiple challenging bridge crossings — for a race strategy, I decided to run even splits and see if I could turn them slightly negative if I had enough gas still left in the tank towards the end.
My target time was to run a sub-2:50 marathon, which meant an average pace of 6:29 mins/ mile (or 4:02 mins/ km). I set my Garmin to keep me in a range between 6:15 mins/ mile to 6:35 mins/ mile, lapping the equivalent time for every 5 miles (roughly 3:54 mins/ km to 4:07 mins/ km for every 8 kilometres). So, every 5 miles/ 8 km, I expected to take 32:05.
The reason I did this was due to the tall buildings screwing with my watch GPS. By lapping for equivalent time, I would know if I was on target when I passed the 8/16/24/32/40 kilometre markers if my watch lapped around the same time. I could also iron out any kinks in my pace over a 5-mile/ 8-kilometre distance to avoid a knee-jerk reaction to going too slow or too fast.
The result was that I finished in 2:48:47, hitting my time goal and knocking 10 minutes of my previous PB (at Boston). My 5k splits were also consistent, clocking in at an average of 19:55 +/- 10 seconds.
Beating the Tokyo Marathon Cut-offs
One big thing many back-of-the-pack runners fear about the Tokyo Marathon is the mid-race checkpoint cut-offs.
As the city needs to return to normal quickly after the marathon, runners must hit a series of checkpoints by a certain time otherwise they get ‘swept’. The fact that this is based on gun time and most slower paced runners set off in the final corrals can also add to the anxiety.
But frankly speaking, unless something goes terribly wrong for you on race day, the cut-offs are absolutely manageable — you just need to be 100% clear on what paces you need to hit to beat them.
The first cut-off is at 4.9km (about 3 miles) at 10:25, so you have 75 minutes to pass it from gun time and probably upwards of 45 minutes from when you actually passed the start line. This translates to an average pace of around 14:45 mins/ mile or 9:10 mins/ km.
The second cut-off is at 11.1km (a little less than 7 miles) at 11:10, so you have two hours from gun time to reach this point and realistically around 90 minutes since you crossed the start line to run 7 miles (roughly 13:00 mins/ mile or 8:00 mins/ km).
If you reach this point, the good news is the required pace to beat the remaining cut-offs starts to drop with every checkpoint.
The next cut-off is at 15.4km (roughly 9.5 miles) at 11:55, so 2:45 after gun time and around 2:15 since you crossed the start line, requiring an average pace of 14:00 mins/ mile (8:45 mins/ km).
The next checkpoint is at 20.9km at 12:45, so you have 3:35 since gun time and 3:05 since crossing the start line to reach this point, which requires an average pace of 14:14 mins/ mile (8:51 mins/ km).
Beating the Tokyo Marathon checkpoint cut-offs is possible using a run-walk methodology or a slightly faster-than-normal walking pace. Just try not to use any toilets before you pass the second checkpoint as you may lose a significant amount of time using them as toilets are not always visible from the course — they may be one or two blocks away in a side street, so it’ll cost you time to leave the course, find the toilet, potentially queue, use it and then return. You don’t have the luxury of time to do this during the first 11.9km if you’re on the bubble as a back-of-the-pack runner.
Many runners write the checkpoint cut-off times on their arms so they know where they need to be and by what time. Solely using a smartwatch isn’t a good idea as you’ll get spurious pace readings due to the tall buildings, but it is useful for knowing how you’re doing for time.
Reflections
I loved running the Tokyo Marathon.
The course was exciting, the support warm and cheerful, and we had excellent weather: sunny blue skies and about 5–10C.
It was perfect running conditions!
I enjoyed the course a lot more than I expected, as there was always something to catch your eye. The out-and-back segments really didn’t feel like out-and-backs, as you got a different view of something spectacular when you turned around.
The low point was the expo experience — both collecting my bib and the lack of merchandise available. Suppliers to WMM events really need to get their act together and ensure adequate stocks of kit, as they’ve left millions of dollars on the table by running out of gear within 30 minutes of opening.
I always thought running the Tokyo Marathon would be a lonely experience as I travelled solo, but I still managed to meet up with many people I knew (or friends of friends) while over there, as well as making new friends at the races (and while waiting in the big queues cursing the time spent on feet!)
The Tokyo Marathon would be an excellent place to finish an Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star Journey, even if you’re running solo, as there are so many unique, picturesque places to take post-race photos with all of your bling.
It might be difficult to get a bib, but I’d highly recommend running the Tokyo Marathon — you’ll love the experience.
If you’ve liked this race report, you can check out my other reports on Abbott World Marathon Majors Running the Boston Marathon, Running the New York Marathon, Running the Berlin Marathon and Running the Chicago Marathon.
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