Tokyo Marathon 2025: Race Preview 

The 2025 Tokyo Marathon takes place on Sunday 2 March. It’s the first of the year’s seven Marathon Majors. 

Here’s what you need to know about the Tokyo Marathon and a preview of the men’s and the women’s race.

ALL ABOUT THE TOKYO MARATHON

The Tokyo Marathon was first run in 2007 and it became the sixth Marathon Major in 2013. 

In 2025, around 38,000 runners are expected to take part, with more than a million people coming out to support around the city. The first runners will begin at 9:10am local time. 

Last year’s race saw new course records in both the men’s and the women’s race, and both champions are returning in 2025. It’s the fourth fastest of the Marathon Majors, and the fifth fastest marathon in the world based on course records. 

Sutume Asefa Kebede holds the women’s course record of 2:15:55 from 2024. 

Benson Kipruto holds the men’s course record of 2:02:16 from 2024. 

Tokyo Marathon elevation profile. It has 198 (60m) feet of elevation gain and 322 feet (98m) of loss for an overall net downhill.

Here’s a full run through of what runners will see during the Tokyo Marathon.

TOKYO MARATHON 2025: WOMEN’S RACE PREVIEW

In the women’s race, the previous three champions all return, and four of the top 10 fastest women of all time are running, so we can expect a good race from this strong field. We expect the women will head out at around 2:15 pace. 

Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa Kebede won the 2024 Tokyo Marathon in 2:15:55 to break the course record. It was the second-fastest marathon of 2024, surpassed only by Ruth Chepngetich’s world record – Kebede was runner-up in that race, so she had a very good year in 2024. 

Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru won the Tokyo Marathon in 2023 and was second in the race in 2024. Wanjiru calls Japan her second home as she went to school there as a teenager, and ran for a Japanese corporate team.  

Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei won the 2022 Tokyo Marathon in 2:16:02. When she ran her personal best of 2:14:04 it set a new world record, and as of February 2025 she’s the fourth-fastest female marathoner of all time. She’s had a tough couple of years with injuries and poor performances, so is she ready for a return to form?

Ethiopia’s Tigist Ketema ran the fastest ever debut marathon with her 2:16:07 at the 2024 Dubai Marathon (ninth-fastest of all time), and ran another 2:16 marathon to win the 2024 Berlin Marathon. Can she go faster in Tokyo?

Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase won the 2021 Berlin Marathon, finished third in the 2022 Tokyo Marathon and second at the 2023 New York Marathon. She also finished first and second in the World Championship Marathon in 2022 and 2023. 

Top Japanese runners included Ai Hosoda and Yuka Ando. 

TOKYO MARATHON 2025: MEN’S RACE PREVIEW

The men’s race features two former champions, world record holders and three of the 10 fastest male marathoners of all time, with six men who have run 2:03 or faster – this is a serious line-up of fast runners. If the conditions are good then we could see the Tokyo Marathon course record lowered in 2025. 

Kenya’s Benson Kipruto returns to Tokyo after his win in 2024. In that race he set the course record of 2:02:16, which was the second-fastest time in the world for the year (just 11-seconds slower than Sebastian Sawe’s win in Valencia). Kipruto also won bronze in the Paris 2024 Olympic Marathon. 

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei is the 5000m and 10,000m world record holder and reigning 10,000m Olympic Champion – after winning gold in Paris he retired from the track, and is now focusing on the road. He made his marathon debut in Valencia in 2023, finishing in 2:08:59, and there’s a lot of expectation for Cheptegei to return much faster in his second marathon – there’s talk of him going out at sub-2:02 pace. 

Ethiopia’s Deresa Galeta has a personal best of 2:02:38 from Valencia 2024 which makes him the seventh-fastest man of all time – one place behind Kipruto, who is sixth of all-time. 

The ninth-fastest man of all-time is also running, and hoping to win his third Tokyo Marathon. Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese was the Tokyo champion in 2019 and 2020, and his personal best is 2:02:48 from Berlin in 2019, which at that time was the third-fastest in history. 

Kenya’s Vincent Ngetich Kipkemboi finished second in the 2023 Berlin Marathon in his personal best time of 2:03:13, which was also his marathon debut. He was third in the 2024 Tokyo Marathon and also raced Chicago last year, where he finished fourth. Not a bad start to his marathon career. 

The other 2:03 guys in the field are Ethiopians Tadese Takele (2:03:24, Berlin 2023) and Dawit Wolde (2:03:48, Valencia 2023). Takele’s personal best is the fastest ever U23 marathon, which he ran at the age of 21.

Cheptegei isn’t the fastest Ugandan in the race, and Stephen Kissa is Uganda’s marathon record holder with his personal best of 2:04:48 from 2022. He was the runner-up at the 2024 Osaka Marathon. 

For the Japanese runners, they’ll be aiming to qualify for the 2025 World Championships, and there’s an expectation of racing for a new men’s Japanese record (trying to beat 2:04:56). The top contender is Akira Akasaki, who was sixth in the Paris 2024 Olympic Marathon, Yohei Ikeda who is the second-fastest Japanese marathoner (2:05:12, Berlin 2024), and Suguru Osako, who ran in the Paris Olympics. 

Who will win the Tokyo Marathon? 

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Image from Tokyo Marathon