Tokyo Marathon

Early March in Tokyo — cool, dry and often perfectly still. Typical race-morning 5–9°C, warming to 11–14°C by the finish. Layered start; arm sleeves off by kilometre eight. Cherry blossoms usually one week away — the course carries the anticipation.

A Major start line at Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku — 38,000 runners in immaculate corrals, live broadcast helicopters overhead, taiko drums opening the ceremony. Extraordinarily orderly. Arrive early, breathe long, let the discipline hold you.

Dense, warm and famously respectful — Tokyo cheers with attention rather than volume. Big lifts at Asakusa Kaminarimon (km 15), Ryogoku (km 27) and the final Ginza straight. Hand-written signs; children offering paper cranes at km 30.

Kilometres 25–32 through Monzen-Nakacho and Toyocho — narrower streets, thinner crowds, an interior stretch to return to yourself before the Ginza and Marunouchi finish. Save the deepest presence for here.

Fully sealed Tokyo city tarmac — famously immaculate, closed to traffic, engineered for a Major. Zero cobbles, zero patches, continuous 6–8 lane boulevards.

Tokyo Marathon is a full Major with a dedicated wheelchair start wave — the entire 42.195 km line is fully sealed, step-free tarmac. Handcycles, racing chairs and standard wheelchairs all supported with priority start corrals. Braille race packs, sign-language volunteers at every aid station, accessible toilets in the finish village. One of the most operationally accessible Majors in the world.