Overall, very well organized, beautiful day, lots of support, good setup for bag drops and drinks along the run. I've run Paris, Seoul (Joongang) and Rotterdam, and compared to those, Tokyo clearly better organized. That said...my one big gripe is that after the race, there are limited options for getting out of that isolated part of Tokyo, ie basically the subway. Except the organizers block off the obvious short path to the station and make you go on a ridiculously long roundabout walk up and down stairs in order to get out to the subway station. Absolutely killed when you are wasted from the run.

Also the course seems about 500m longer than 42.2km. My Garmin tracked it as 42.7km. Not a big deal I guess, but seems odd.

I ran this marathon in February 2013. I agree with other comments about this being a well organized race, but I want faster runners to be aware of one key issue. I registered with a prior pb of 2:48. The organizers put me in starting group B. I assumed that A would be all elites. It turns out that A included many slower runners in costumes; it seems that if you're a member of a Japan running club, you get put in A. So I began the race needing to work my way through thousands of runners, some running a 4-5 hour pace and some of whom stopped after the start line to take photos. This is obviously unacceptable. I will write to the organizers about this, but want competitive runners to be aware of this problem.

This is a good, not great, marathon that has a lot of room to improve in order to meet expectations with its peer World Marathon Majors. In fact, it has a lot of work to do just to compare well to my local races. I enjoyed the experience, but I expected far better.

First the good:
* Well organized
* Race book translated in English
* An excuse to go to Asia / Japan
* Lots of water stops
* Good public transportation
* Competitive
* Pretty fast course (faster than Boston or NYC, slower than Chicago, Houston, and Berlin)
* Onsen (warm water) at the end to soak your lower legs in

What needs work:
* Very congested
* Race results won't be posted for a month!
* Sports drink only every 5k
* First corral had 100's of costumed runners and all of the 10k runners
* A death march at the end that makes NYC look like a daisy
* Quiet spectators (too polite, they need to be Yankee obnoxious)
* Last 5-6 miles have almost no spectators
* Last few miles have a number of small bridges
* Finding splits on the website was very difficult. Most of my friends/family gave up.
* No automated runner tracking
* No video online of finish or splits
* Race pictures: after 4+ days, still no ETA
* Race photography after finish was awkwardly located (missed by many)

First time running Tokyo and 4th marathon overall - what a great experience (apart from cramping up at km39 onwards, but hey can't have it all).

Firstly the course. A brilliant starting location in exciting Shinjuku and a friendly start time at 9.10 am making it easy to get the required sleep. It is basically a '+' shape course going in a South East direction through Tokyo. You start at the top, go out and back along the left arm then the right arm, before coming down the final bit. It's downhill as a whole (mainly the first 5km) so quick times should be expected (I pb'ed by over 6mins from under 4hrs to begin with).

There is some music provided along the way including Japanese drums which just gave me a headache but other people probably liked it and certainly added to the atmosphere.

Some people on previous years have talked about reversing the course, and while this would definitely make it more atmospheric as it goes on it would also increase the times as it would mean going uphill as a whole (esp in the final 5km, which are currently downhill for the first 5km, so no thanks to that) and would be into the wind most years I believe.

Secondly the organisation. As you might expect from Japan's reputation this is a very well run event. Everything is extremely clear at the Expo and on race day (even for non-Japanese speakers) and all the volunteers I interacted with were as helpful as could be asked for. Expo is a bit out of the way, but is at the same place as the finish line so is a good dry run for getting back to your place after the race.

At the end they also handed out freeze spray for muscles as well as all the usual stuff which I found to be a revelation for after the race -- another lesson learnt in marathoning and I'll always have that on hand from now on. There is also a hot water bath for you feet and bottom of your legs at the end which is free of charge -- a nice touch.

Finally the spectators. Not London or New York style but still lots of people out supporting, particularly on the first 35km before the course goes in the more business park bit of Tokyo. 4 stars reflects the lack of opportunity from this point rather than spectators themselves.

In summary this is a fantastic race and a really good chance to run a PB if you haven't run one of the more recognized fast courses, e.g. Berlin, Boston.

Of note though is that it is a balloted entry, e.g. London, so there is a good chance you will not be able to enter the first time you try. I suspect it easier for foreigners than domestic residents (this was the first time I applied and there were over 300,000 applicants for about 35,000 spots) but I might just be lucky.

I enjoy the race, the people cheering for every runners. There's a lot of event till the end of the course. I almost give at 27K but I seen a lot more runner who is in pain and continued running and it give me urge to continue. Thanks for the candies, chocolate, drinks and even a piece of cake from the people who is cheering for us. Thanks for all those who volunteer to give food, water, amino drinks.

This may be the fastest cours I've run. They say Berlin and London are the fastest courses and having run them both I must say Tokyo is up there with them. This became my third fastest race in spite of being jet lagged and on very little sleep. I'd suggest that they'd reverse the coure, starting out in the atmosphericaly dead Big Sight area (boring place for a finnish line) and finnish in grand Shinjuku. Exiting city, a perfect arrangement and a big and fully fashioned expo, there's no reason why serious matathon runners all over the world shouldn't give this a go. Tokyo is a friendly and easy city to visit. Hope to be back.

Tokyo Marathon was very Japanese - in the sense that it was Organised, Efficient and errr, Meticulous.

I was expecting a Zoo of an Expo and long queue to collect my race pack. Instead, the process was smooth and flow was great. I even had time to queue up for the photo booths. Alot of freebies at the Expo. Sponsors / Retailers were all out at the expo.

The course was quite scenic - Tokyo Tower / Tokyo Tree / Asakusa Gate, But I didn't quite like the two loops - almost felt like it would never end.

I was half expecting to not finish this race due to an IT Band injury and had not ran more than 13 km up to a week prior but..

The crowd motivated me. I always preferred running alone but this time, I owe it to the crowd. The cheering, the free candies/drinks/chocolate/fruits/younameityougotit/salonpas. The crowd made the Race for me.

If you want to feel like a ROCKSTAR running a marathon, Tokyo is it. This is the first time ever, I felt like running back to the starting line after completing a race; simply for the crowd.

Entertainment was great. There were alot of mascots - Edgar Davids to Masked Rider.

The sponsored food and Amino Value drinks were aplenty even up till the end. Even so, you'd have more than enough from the spectators alone. I even saw a booth giving out free Noodle & Hot Soup to the runners.

Amazing Experience. First on my To Run Again list.

PROS:
+ Exceptionally well organized from start to finish, from navigating the race expo/package pickup, to the pre-race baggage check and bathrooms, to the water/food stations, to the finishing area. The huge numbers and language difference wasn't a barrier at all.
+ Lots of signs, numbers and frequent announcements to get runners from the subway exits to the start. I entered the race gates at 8:15 and comfortably got to the start line. (Realized later that there were urinals in another area which would have saved 15 min on the bathroom stop.)
+ Each fuel station covered a long stretch and was well stocked.
+ The crowd, although not as loud or outgoing as others I've experienced, were at times four rows deep.
+ Massive volunteer force
+ Mostly flat, point-to-point course. I didn't care too much for the big city backdrop but the two-hairpins made it feel very festive seeing other runners pass in the opposite direction. the elites heading back. The one only rise at 37k was over-hyped to me.

CONSs
- The anticlimactic finish area. The atmosphere was so dead. No call from an announcer, barely cheering crowd (no crowd past the finish), no music. There was such a long, quiet march after the finish line that I couldn't help but think that I'd done something wrong.

OVERALL:
Outstanding organization, the mass of spectators and volunteers, and the empty streets of Tokyo overrun with runners. I think this'll be a regular for me.

This was my first Tokyo race - I was lucky to have been chosen from 300,000 applicants (apparently because I applied from the US). The weather was absolutely perfect (upper 40s at start, warmed to mid 50s at the end), especially considering that it rained the entire next day - even turning to snow in the afternoon!

Very easy access by train/subway to both the start and finish areas. Volunteers were manning the subway stations for the expo and race start to ensure that the runners made it to where they needed to go. I found plenty of toilets at the start and many more every few KM on the course with officials guarding them making sure the runners had access.

There was plenty of water and Amino-Value along the course. After the halfway point there were raisins, little waffle-like snacks, bananas, etc. Many people on the street were handing out candy and treats to the runners - more so than the folks who hand out oranges along the big marathon routes in the US. In other words, the spectators really seemed to want to help the runners. I didn't recognize what they were handing out, but many of the local runners were grabbing handfuls of the special treats.

A definite must-run marathon if you can be in Tokyo and you remember to submit your application in the fall before the race. The two out-and-back stretches were a bit boring because you saw the same scenery twice, but at least you could see the leaders. It was the longest of my 15 marathons (26.8 miles) - perhaps the large crowds (33,000 running the marathon and 3,000 running the 10K that started with us) and jetlag kept me from correctly running the tangents. The finisher's medal is cool and is in the shape of a cherry blossom. They even let you take a picture at the expo wearing a wreath and holding the first place trophy, so you try to claim you won the race. How cool is that?

This year the weather was letter perfect and it is a very fast course. I agree with most everything good said about this event. Great organization for size; I just wish the ending location wasn't quite so far out of the way. Not connected to the main metro line. A long, arduous walk through the various areas to accomplish post-race activities and then continue to the train station.