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Apr 28, 2024

Tokyo Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 4.2

Organization 4.4

Spectators 4.3

Number of comments: 44 [displaying comments 11 to 21]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 > ]

N. G. from Philadelphia, PA (3/1/2015) "Excellent Overall Experience" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Tokyo Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I have ran several other WMM events and this was my 1st Tokyo. A few comments: Expo: Most organized of majors but loud and I felt like I was being sold in the aisles. No jackets and an odd selection of shirts on display in small area. That part has to be better. Great location for expo. Start: Pay close attention to rules of gate entry and what to not bring in. Both are very strict. No place to change so find an overpass (if raining) and change before dropping off bag. Show up very early. Its crowded (understatement) but very organized. Metal detectors and baggage check takes time and long lines. Take a train and don't think about taking a cab or driving. People mentioned poor corral placement and costume and charity runners up front and I was in Gate 1 and got off to a good start with no issues and got into race pace very fast. No issues at all for any 3:00-3:30 runners. Course: Very 'Boston' like with the 1st 10k net downhill. Very easy to get out too fast. Take it easy and the rest of race is manageable. Flat and fast with some bridge hills at inopertune times towards end. Had thought there would be mile markers (w/KM markers) but not so much. The water stations excellent with long tables. Appreciate the volunteers immensely but they want to high-five constantly which got in my way a bit. When bread offered, it is filled with a chocolate custard so be aware. Bananas excellent. M&M's are unnecessary but good to have. Sport drink excellent. Out and backs very cool watching the elites run on by. Didn't bother me at all. Amazing views and 'tour' of city. Course measures long even when running tangents (26.89 miles). Potential big city GPS issue but felt long too. Post race/finish: Long, long walk through finish shoot. Train station a long, painful walk. Baggage pick up excellent and organized but no water after the 1st offering after finish. Volunteers were amazing and helpful. Overall, a must-run Major. Train for hills and don't believe the perception on the course elevation chart. Its not totally flat but very manageable course. No reason I can come up with that makes it not worthy of a Major and a must run in 2016.
L. D. from New York (2/26/2015) "Much better than expected" (about: 2015) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Tokyo Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 That was my 2nd marathon after a 'frustrating' experience in NY in Nov (target 3:15 but running 3:29). My thoughts: - Expo was great and even better than NY. Went there Friday night and found all I wanted. - After reading comments here my main concern was about coral assignment and having a lot of slower runners (wearing costume?) starting in front of me. Well I was 'ok' when I found out that I was in coral C (going from A to K) thks to my 3:29 in NY. Very slow for the first mile indeed; crowded and keep turning; but at the end much better than I thought and actually good for warm up. - Very good for PR. Flat and fast but need to leave a lot in the tank for the few hills you'll find during the last 3 miles. - Huge crowd but a bit 'quiet' compared to NY. - Enough water stations but a bit more would have not hurt. - Finish line is a bit in the middle of nowhere but it didn't bother me. - Someone complained here about the long walk between finish line and transportation but still better than NY. You are inside a building so it's warm, you have proper bathrooms and at 1 point you even have warm water tanks to soak your lower legs in... that was just amazing! - Not easy to find your result, pictures etc on their website if you can't read Japanese To summarize I ran it in 3:13 and it was a great day! and that means a lot as it's coming from a French guy... as everybody know French like to complain about everything and anything and are hard to please!
A. V. from Las Vegas, NV (7/10/2014) "Chilly but fun/scenic course" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Tokyo Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I really enjoyed this race, the organization is top notch and the crowds were amazing the whole route! Results were posted immediately for all runners and everyone got a finisher certificate by mail. I'm not sure why there are comments are about no results. My biggest issue would be the corrals... they were handled well on race day but poorly assigned. I put a 3:55 time down and wasn't even close to the front. Def don't go expecting a PR. The crowds does thin however there is ALWAYS someone within 2 arms length the whole race. Just run for fun! The weather can be a toss up. This year it was around 37f at the start. There was snow flurries for about 2 miles but it cleared and sun came out. I was never really cold, the temp was perfect for a marathon. Thousands of uniformed volunteers line the route with trash bags so it was great to see no trash being thrown on the ground. Aid stops were great and I must say... I was hesitant about tomatoes but they really hit the spot and were delicious. I loved amino value sports drink, first time I had it and liked a sports drink served for a race. Go to the Expo on day 1 on Thursday because by day 2, all merchandise esp shirts will be gone. It was the busiest expo I've been... went back on Friday to get another shirt since my race shirt didn't fit. Well, of the 25 style of shirts only 2 were left and I got the last one. So don't hesitate if you like something. Speaking of the race shirt... the M size is actually XXS. I should have got the biggest size available. Expo is easy to get to/from however leaving on race day is a pain. They make you walk from finish area inside to bag pick up then to dressing stage area followed by family reunion. All this zig zags through the entire venue before you make it outside. THEN the train stop walkway was closed and you need to detour around to get to the other one. Btw, they do sell merchandise at a discount which you will walk by after the race. Just make sure you have cash or credit card! The race pics are the best I've seen at any race.
T. R. from USA (4/13/2014) "Good but not great" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Ran the race through Marathon Tours and while I had a horrible race, the entire experience of the trip was fantastic! The good: -Tons and tons of crowd support. Easily the most of any of the other marathons I've done (including, Boston, NYC, London and Berlin). -Plenty of fluid stations and the sports drink wasn't bad! -Expo fairly easy to navigate -Course wasn't flat nor hilly. Probably just right overall. The bad: -Extremely congested to get to the start area and my friends and I felt like we were going to get trampled (I'm a clydesdale so that's tough for something like that to happen to me). -Start corrals weren't seeded appropriately. I'd agree w/others on this one. -Finishing in the middle of nowhere made the race lose a bit of its luster. All the other majors have great finishing points. This one doesn't. -Navigating from the finish to the transportation was entirely too far. By far more than any other major. It was probably an additional 1+ miles from the finish line to get out of the convention center. -Terrible selection at the expo. I'm a larger guy * 6'3 - 240')and there were no shirts that would fit me. A huge disappointment after all of the travel. All in all it's probably my least favorite race of the 5 majors I've done. That said, the trip was a fantastic wonderful cultural experience. Go for the experience and not to PR.
M. S. from Chicago, Il (3/20/2014) "Well organized world class" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Tokyo Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Crazy expo with vendors hawking their wares. International fun run 4K was at the finish/expo area and a lot of fun. The race was well organized from start to finish and a flat course with a few small hills near the end. Spectators lined the entire course with plenty of support. I've done all the world majors except London and Tokyo is on par with all the others.
T. M. from Washington DC (3/14/2014) "Fun Race but not on a par with other Majors" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Tokyo Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Dont regret going to the effort & expense of doing this race, but it is not on a par with the other Majors I've run (i.e., NYC, Boston, Chicago). Positives: Best crowds of any marathon I've run. Flat fast course. Well organized in many respects. Negatives: It's 3 weeks since race and still no results posted ?!?! Only results for top 500 are available. Serious seeding issues. Many slow, costumed charity runners in the front corrals. Wasted a lot of energy and time trying to pass these people. Feel like course was long. According to my Garmin it was approximately 0.8 mile too long. Im sure I added a fair bit of distance dodging all the slow costumed runners, but that wouldnt account for 0.8 mile. Serious overcrowding issues at the start. Love Japan and Tokyo, and overall I enjoyed the race, but it just doesnt meet the same standards of the other Majors or even other big city marathons (eg Houston, Marine Corp, etc).
P. G. from USA (3/8/2014) "World Major with no results!!!" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Tokyo Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 World Major that after approximately a month will allegedly use gross results rather than chip time for results! As commented corral A was filled with slow runners. No fair! Get your world class act together.
Dennis Zaborac from Seattle, USA (3/7/2014) "More than a Marathon" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 3 Tokyo Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I have run Tokyo three times and it is more than a world class race. It is a life changing cultural event.
L. T. from USA (3/3/2014) "Great race, but no official race jackets at Expo" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Tokyo Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 The biggest complaint I heard from most runners was that there were no official race jackets for sale at the Expo. I understand that there were some, but the quantity available must have been almost nothing. I attended the Expo two days prior to the race, and the jackets were already sold out. I was there on a tour with 300+ participants, and everyone in our group was very disappointed to have come such a long way and not have a jacket to show for it. It was very disppointing for a World Major Marathon to be so inadequately equipped. I emailed the race director after the race and was told that there wouldn't be anymore produced. Hopefully, they will be more prepared next year. I feel certain that they missed out on millions of dollars in additional sales over this error in judgement. Aside from the lack of organization, the spectators made the race enjoyable. Just be prepared that you may not have much more than your memories to show for it.
B. C. from Australia (2/26/2014) "Fantastic" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Tokyo Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 First time doing this marathon, and I will be back - deservedly now one of the majors. Top quality organization and great support for the race. Also a great reason to visit Tokyo, a wonderful city. Positives: - Great organization, from registration through expo through race day itself - Everything translated into English, very friendly for non-Japanese - Great start time, 9.10am - not too early, not too late - Easy access to start via public transport - Good weather this time of year (a little chilly but good for running) - Fast generally flat course - Great expo - Well stocked drink and food stations on course - Indoor bag pickup and changing areas at finish - great idea to get runners out of the cold. Seen a few complaints about the finish location (it's relatively remote), but logistically it works well. - Great crowd/spectator support, not quite London or New York, but a well supported event - Friendly energetic vibe Areas for improvement/beware: - Few little hills near the end, be advised! - Very crowded, this race is at capacity - No logic on seeding at the start - many slow runners and runners in costume in start groups A/B, many faster runners put in groups G-K. Needs to be improved. - Some out-and-back sections on the course, although personally I didn't mind - Finish at Tokyo Big Sight is outside main part of city (not a big deal, actually good facilities at finish) - Bit of a walk to get from finish area back to metro Overall an excellent event, one of the best I've done.

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