The Tokyo Marathon is among the six World Marathon Majors, the only one taking place in Asia. This makes it one of the most important athletic events on the continent with a few hundred thousand applicants. The marathon, sponsored by Tokyo Metro takes place every February or March with about 35,000 runners on the course.
The event features the best long distance runners of Asia in the world, such as Wilson Kipsang of Kenya who won the marathon in 2017 with the best result in its history—2 hours 03 minutes 58 seconds.
The Tokyo Marathon course is quite flat and features many iconic landmarks of the Japanese capital. It starts by Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, then passes Iidabashi, Nihonbashi and Asakusa areas. The finish line is not far from Tokyo Station at Gyoko-dori Ave. Crowds cheer for runners vigorously through the entire course.
The first Tokyo Marathon took place on 18 February 2007 and has gradually become a major running event. For those not ready to cover the full marathon distance, there is a 10K run and the half-marathon race.
