Tokyo Marathon
The is an annual marathon sporting event in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. It is a World Athletics Platinum Label marathon and one of the six World Marathon Majors. The latest edition of the race took place on . It is sponsored by Tokyo Metro.
H ...
( ja, 東京マラソン 2013) was the seventh edition of the annual marathon race in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
World Marathon Majors
The World Marathon Majors (WMM) (known for sponsorship reasons as the Abbott World Marathon Majors) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races reco ...
event to be held that year and represented the first occasion that the Tokyo race was part of the elite-level marathon series.
The 2013 Tokyo Marathon featured marathon races for runners and
wheelchair racer
Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...
s. A 10-kilometre race was also held for the disabled and runners under eighteen years.
Dennis Kimetto won the men's race in a course record time of 2:06:50 hours. The women's winner,
Aberu Kebede
Aberu Kebede Shewaye (born 12 September 1989) is an Ethiopian long distance runner who specializes in road running competitions. Her half marathon best of 1:07:39 is one of the fastest ever by an Ethiopian woman. She gained a bronze at the 2009 I ...
, had a time of 2:25:34 hours, which was six seconds off the women's course best.Nakamura, Ken (24 February 2013) Kimetto clocks course record 2:06:50 at Tokyo Marathon IAAF. Retrieved 2013-03-09. The mass races set a new participation record with a total of 28,721 runners entering the race over 42.195 kilometres (26 miles and 385 yards), and 36,676 people taking part in the day's races as a whole.
Pre-race build up
A day prior to the race, the International Friendship Run was held with a distance of roughly 4 km. The non-competitive race between athletes, organisers and registered marathon entrants began with warm-up radio exercises and took place in Shiokaze Park and Odaiba Seaside Park. The 2013 Tokyo Marathon
EXPO
An expo is a trade exposition. It may also refer to:
Events and venues
* World's fair, a large international public exposition
* Singapore Expo, convention and exposition venue
** Expo Axis, one of the world's largest membrane roofs, constructe ...
was also hosted that day.Expo 2013 . Tokyo Marathon. Retrieved 2013-03-09. Organisational changes improved the charity
fun run
A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition. A fun run will usually be held to raise funds for a charity, with sponsors pr ...
ning aspect of the race: 3000 entries were reserved for charity runners,
tax relief
Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...
was given to charitable donations, and role of sponsors and corporations in raising funds was expanded. An estimated 1.7 million people were spectators to the city race.2013 LOC Press Conference Tokyo Marathon. Retrieved 2013-03-09.
Building on the race's inclusion with the World Marathon Majors circuit, race director Tadaaki Hayano invited numerous elite international marathon runners with fast personal bests. In the men's race Dennis Kimetto, James Kwambai,
Dino Sefir
Dino Sefir Kemal (born 28 May 1988) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was one of three members of the Ethiopian team who competed in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom.Jonathan Maiyo all entered the race with personal bests below two hours and five minutes – a first for a Japanese race.Nakamura, Ken (24 January 2013) Best field ever assembled for Tokyo Marathon IAAF. Retrieved 2013-03-09.
Irina Mikitenko
Irina Mikitenko, ''née'' Volynskaya (russian: Ирина Волынская (Микитенко); born 23 August 1972 in Bakanas, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union), is a retired German long-distance runner who competed in marathons. She won the Ber ...
was the fastest entrant among the elite women, following by Bezunesh Bekele,
Aberu Kebede
Aberu Kebede Shewaye (born 12 September 1989) is an Ethiopian long distance runner who specializes in road running competitions. Her half marathon best of 1:07:39 is one of the fastest ever by an Ethiopian woman. She gained a bronze at the 2009 I ...
and
Caroline Kilel
Caroline Cheptanui Kilel (born 21 March 1981) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in road running competitions. She was the winner at the 2011 Boston Marathon and the Frankfurt Marathon in 2010 and 2013. Kilel took the silver medal ...
.
The men's race was also of domestic interest because it doubled as the trials for the Japanese men's marathon team at the
2013 World Championships in Athletics
The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013) () was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Initially, Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 200 ...
.
Arata Fujiwara
is a Japanese marathon runner.
At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics held in Berlin, Germany, Fujiwara finished 61st in the men's marathon in a time of two hours, thirty-one minutes and ten seconds.
He represented Japan at the 2012 S ...
,
Kazuhiro Maeda
Kazuhiro Maeda ( ja, 前田 和浩; born 19 April 1981) is a Japanese long-distance runner.
Born in Shiroishi, Saga, Maeda made his international debut at the 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics, where he ran in the heats of the 5000 me ...
Takayuki Matsumiya
Takayuki Matsumiya ( ja, 松宮隆行; born 21 February 1980 in Akita) is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in marathon races. He holds the Asian record and Japanese record over 25 km and 30 km. He has a twin brother, Yuk ...
were the foremost Japanese men, all having bests below two hours and ten minutes.
Yoshimi Ozaki
is a Japanese long-distance runner, who specializes in the marathon. She won the 2008 Tokyo Women's Marathon in a personal best time of 2:23:30 hours. A year later she took the silver medal in the event at the 2009 World Championships in Athle ...
and Azusa Nojiri were the most prominent female domestic entrants.
Tokyo Marathon
The is an annual marathon sporting event in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. It is a World Athletics Platinum Label marathon and one of the six World Marathon Majors. The latest edition of the race took place on . It is sponsored by Tokyo Metro.
H ...
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...