japan running news

Following the lead of other Japanese races like 2020 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2021 Osaka International Women's Marathon, 2021 Lake Biwa Marathon, 2021 Nagoya Women's Marathon and 2021 Kobe Marathon prior to its cancelation, the Tokyo Marathon has announced that this year's race will not accept international runners due to Japan's unending restrictions on immigration.  Mass-participation runners who could not run in 2020 due to the pandemic had the option to move their entries to 2021 or 2022. People who opted for 2021 will now be re-routed to 2023 according to the official announcement from race director Tad Hayano : <Decision on Overseas Runners for #TokyoMarathon2021 > Due to continued strict border restrictions in place for travelers entering Japan and the uncertainty of when they will be lifted, the decision that overseas runners will not participate in the Tokyo Marathon 2021 was made. pic.twitter.com/k0f8pVaYBz — Tokyo Marathon Foundation (@TokyoMarat...

The organizers of the Tokyo Marathon held a special board meeting Mar. 19 to discuss plans for staging this year's race on Oct. 17. As a measure to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the decision was made to reduce the field size from 38,000 to 25,000 participants. The race's slogan will be "The Day When Tokyo Once Again Becomes One." Entries will be open Mar. 22 to 31. Rough guidelines were also established for the process by which the final decision on whether the race can go ahead will be made. If a state of emergency is declared within a month prior to the marathon, it will be canceled at that time. "Holding a safe and secure event is our number one priority," commented an official.  International entries will be accepted. Because the 2020 edition of the race was held with only elite athletes, mass-participation runners were given the option of transferring their entries to either the 2021 or 2022 editions. Roughly 7,000 people opted to run 2021, mea...

Race director Tad Hayano wanted records at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon , and records he got. Despite the withdrawal of almost the entire international women's and men's wheelchair fields, both races saw Japanese athletes solo new course records.  Tsubasa Kina and Tomoki Suzuki  tuned up for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics with new records of records of 1:40:00 and 1:21:52, reaping the rewards of a doubled prize money purse. In the women's marathon, Kenyan-born 2019 Prague Marathon winner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter (Israel) kicked away from a tight pack race at 30 km to win in 2:17:45, a course record and new Israeli national record. With three Japanese men controlling the pace through 30 km the race stayed right on the hot end of the planned 3:17~18/km pace up to that point, burning off competitors including defending champion Ruti Aga (Ethiopia) and Frankfurt Marathon winner Valary Jemeli Aiyabei (Kenya) one by one until it was only Salpeter, two-time Tokyo winner Birhane Diba...