Japan will get the ball rolling for the 2025 Marathon Majors Series with the 18th running of the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday (2 March).
A total of 169 elite runners will lead a field of 38,000 through the streets of the Japanese capital, starting from the Tokyo Metropolitan Building and finishing at Tokyo Station.
For the runners of the host country, the race carries extra significance with it being a direct qualifier for the World Athletics Championships in September, also being held in Tokyo.
The defending men’s champion, Benson Kipruto, is back. He claimed bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the year since he won this event.
Trying to steal the Kenyan’s thunder will be Joshua Cheptegei, the two-time Olympic middle-distance champion who transitioned to the marathon last year. The 5,000m and 10,000m world record-holder from Uganda will be looking for his first triumph on the road.
The women’s race is shaping up to be a three-way battle involving the race’s last three winners – Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa Kebede and the Kenyan pair of Rosemary Wanjiru and former world record-holder/Olympic silver medallist Brigid Kosgei.
Paula Radcliffe will attempt to turn back the clock as a special guest. The 51-year-old Briton and former world record holder is also penciled in for the Boston Marathon six weeks later, which will make her a Six Star finisher, an accolade awarded to runners who complete all six Marathon Majors.
AloJapan.com