TOKYO, Feb 20 — First run in 2007, the Tokyo Marathon quickly established itself as one of the world’s leading marathons, joining the Abbott World Marathon Majors in 2013 as its sixth race alongside New York, London, Berlin, Boston, and Chicago.
This year it has added a range of special events that will not only celebrate the marathon’s 10th birthday, but will also kick off this year’s marathon season with running fans from around the world.
Before marathon day itself the celebrations will start with The Friendship Run 2016, which will be held the day before the marathon on February 27. Registration closed on January 30 but for those lucky enough to have a place you can expect a short 5km fun-run style race with fellow runners from all over the world, which will get you warmed up for Sunday’s main event.
And if you feel there are more runners around than usual that’s because as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations 2016 will see an increase in the number of entrants from 35,500 in 2015 to 36,500 for this year only, giving even more runners a chance to join in the fun and undertake the challenge of one of the world’s greatest marathons.
And as well as the 42km marathon, which will take in sights such as the Imperial Palace, Asakusa Kaminari-mon, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, and the famous shopping and entertainment district of Ginza, other participants will also be taking part in the Wheelchair Marathon and 10k race on the same day.
To celebrate these running achievements this year marathon organizers will be hosting an After-Run Thanks Party at the Tokyo Big Sight. The event will be a chance for everyone involved in the races to come together to celebrate, as well as the chance to refuel after the race with some local cuisine.
Registration is now closed but registration for the 2017 Tokyo Marathon is expected to open August 2016.
For those interested in ticking another World Marathon Major off the list, or supporting someone taking part, here are the 2016 dates for the remaining five, with registrations for Chicago and New York still open.
Virgin Money London Marathon
April 24, 2016
Registration now closed
Boston Marathon
April 18, 2016
Registration now closed
BMW Berlin Marathon
September 25, 2016
Registration now closed
Bank of America Chicago Marathon
October 9, 2016
Guaranteed entry application opens March 8 to April 12
Non-guaranteed entry application opens March 15 to April 12
TCS New York Marathon
November 6, 2016
Registration closes February 21 — AFP-Relaxnews
