Tokyo Marathon:What to Expect when you Luckily Get In

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Tokyo Marathon was my second marathon in Japan.  Marathon in every sense of the word. All the big–name races in Japan (at least every one I’ve done or heard about) are raffles, and the Tokyo Marathon lottery is hard to win.  The Japanese are active.  Very active.  Every once and a while you luck out and get “special treatment” for being foreign (like spots open only to foreigners that the Shonan International and Yokohama Marathon offer) but it’s still hard with that even. My first year trying to get into Tokyo I didn’t make it. Here’s what to expect for entrance and what to do when you make it!  

[Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in July of 2018 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.]

Why is the Tokyo Marathon so Popular?

We’ll ignore that it takes place in the last megalopolis in the world. What makes the entry process even more competitive? Tokyo Marathon is part of the series of six largest marathons in the world that make up the Abbott World Marathon Majors. If you want to make a name for yourself, you do it at Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York or Tokyo.

Needless to say, that results in some 300,000+ runners jiving for some 37,500 spots, more like 27,000 spots once you get rid of the early entries.

Entry process and the Tokyo Marathon Lottery

Thanks to the coronavirus rattling events around the world and cancelling the 2020 Tokyo Marathon, there’s a good chance that entry for next year will be affected. 2021 Charity runner entries are already being impacted. There is room for the 2020 participants to defer as well and they’ll be announcing more in the coming months.

So here’s hoping for 2022. The process changed slightly since I got in during the 2016 race. Charity runners are the first window to open and that’s normally near the beginning of July. That’s on first come, first serve basis and it’s limited to the amount of people that can get in that way (in 2020 it was 5,000 runners).

Then there is the One Tokyo Premium Entries which I don’t fall under and can’t speak to. For Tokyo Marathon, the overseas entitlement goes to the semi-elite crowd who get a chance at earlier entry. The last with any chance at better odds are Tokyo Residents can get in one a first serve basis. But when you consider there’s millions of residents in Tokyo, those 1,000 stops go fast!

All other entry into the Tokyo Marathon is a lottery which runs the entire month of August. If you get in, you’ll be notified in late September and your entry fee is due in October.

The other option? Which is actually how I got in, find a tour company running a package. Not necessarily the cheapest but if you are flying from overseas, many are all inclusive. I met a lot of groups from Europe!

Lodging in Tokyo the night before

Another benefit of the Tokyo Marathon tour option – The package included hotel for the evening before, breakfast in the morning, as well as transportation to the start line (well, close, I think I still walked a good 2 km but that’s pretty normal for Japan).  

The race starts around 9am so staying outside of Tokyo is an option if you don’t mind the early wakeup call. Just make sure you give yourself ample time as there will be 30,000+ other runners plus spectators making the same trek you are.

Also, don’t be me. However you book your hotel, don’t forget to look it up beforehand. You might want to spend time there! I was informed AFTER the race by some friends that I was in, the Hotel New Otani, one of the nicest hotels in Tokyo!

Leave it to me to not realize part of the price spike was the fact I would be staying in a 5-star hotel. Completely apparent the second I walked in. If I’d known that before hand, I wouldn’t have spent as much time just hanging out at dinner carb-loading (however, the beer and pizza at DevilCraft is spectacular! more on that later).  

Don’t miss out on the race expo

The expo for Tokyo Marathon is the biggest running trade show in Japan. The year I ran it was held at Tokyo Big Sight. Lots of great booths with products, shoes, KT tape. Yes, just like the states, you can get taped for free. My favorite booth was the demonstration of the new 3D printing of shoes to perfectly fit your feet.  Cool concept but I’ll stick with my On running shoes.

One of the nice touches for the Tokyo Marathon Race Expo that it was very personalized. A nice touch for a highly spectated event.

Carb Loading Options

The joke is you run for the carb loading pre- and post-marathon. In the land of sushi, never fear, there’s plenty of Italian and Pizza offerings. However, sushi rice and ramen do fit the carb-loading wickets as well!

One of my top choices in Tokyo is DevilCraft – Craft Brew Pub & Pizzeria Kanda and personally, I’m all about a pre-race beer (it IS liquid bread after all).  The pizza here is amazing.  Chicago deep dish style, yes, in Tokyo, Japan.  They do it up right. There are two other locations in Hamamatsucho and Gotanda if the location in Kanda, the original, is busy.

Morning of the Tokyo Marathon

The tour company had about 400 people staying at the hotel from all over the world and had charter buses to the race front. If you are “on your own”, metros are the best way to go with the streets closing.  The race expo generally has passes you can use similar to a Pasmo or Suica. If you need help with navigating the trains this guide should help.

Before you head to the corrals, there’s a very large pre-race area set aside to check your baggage, find some bananas, water and stretch out.

Pro tip: They start announcing moving to your corals early and if you miss getting there, you are shoved to the back of the pack.  Once the fireworks went off I was surprised how quickly they got people moving.  No wave starts here but everyone, for the most part, seemed very properly placed pace-wise and it worked well!

Disclosure: Kristenabroad.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate programs. For some links to products or services in this article, I may earn a small commission by you using my link.  The price for you is not affected.

Tokyo Weather in February

Average temps on race day are a low of 36F/2C and high of 51F/11C. Perfect running temperature if you ask me! It can be known to rain or snow though so bring some foul weather gear just in case.

Hands down, best crowd support of any marathon

The race supporters were by far the best I’ve ever experienced.  There’s an absurd amount of people that come out to watch, granted, Tokyo is a big city.  Millions is still impressive.  The streets are packed at least three deep the entire course. Designated aid stations contained your typical water, sports drink and bananas, but there were also stations with a definite Japan twist of cookies and umeboshi (picked plums) and various other “delicacies”.  There was also plenty of spectator supported aid from candy to fruit.

Post race celebrations

There is an after party but I didn’t make it due to travelling back home. That didn’t stop me from stopping by my local izakaya for a beer!

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