Tokyo Marathon 2025: Things You May Have Missed!

The first of the year’s seven Abbott World Marathon Majors took place in Tokyo yesterday. 

Here’s what happened at the 2025 Tokyo Marathon and the things you may have missed including a former marathon world record holder, a pop superstar with impeccable pace, and thousands of new Six Star finishers.

Check out the official race video from the 2025 Tokyo Marathon. 

FAST TIMES BUT NO COURSE RECORDS

In the men’s race, Tadese Takele won his first Marathon Major and ran a new personal best. 

In the women’s race, Sutume Asefa Kebede became a back-to-back winner of the Tokyo Marathon following her success in 2024. Both winners are from Ethiopia. 

It was a fast race, but not as fast as planned or hoped. The lead pacers in the men’s and women’s races set off at 2:01 and 2:12 pace respectively, and Takele and Kebede were close to those paces at half way, but a warm day in Tokyo saw the eventual winners and many other runners slowing in the second half of the race. 

Kebede in particular slowed down. She ran 1:06:20 for the first half, well inside her own course record pace, and 1:10:11 for the second half. 

Men’s Top 3

1. Tadese Takele (ETH): 2:03:23
2. Deresa Geleta (ETH): 2:03:51
3. Vincent Kipkemoi (KEN): 2:04:00

Women’s Top 3

1. Sutume Asefa Kebede (ETH): 2:16:31
2. Winfridah Moraa Moseti (KEN): 2:16:56
3. Hawi Feysa (ETH): 2:17:00

TADESE RUNS NEW U23 MARATHON RECORD

Tadese Takele ran a one-second personal best of 2:03:23. In doing so, the 22-year-old lowered his own under-23 marathon record. Takele turns 23 in August, so this is likely his third and final marathon as a U23.

CHEPTEGEI RUNS 2:05, LEAVES ‘EVEN MORE MOTIVATED’  

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, the reigning Olympic 10,000m champion and world record holder in the 5,000m and 10,000m, finished 9th in the 2025 Tokyo Marathon.

Cheptegei’s time of 2:05:59 was exactly a three-minute improvement on his only previous marathon, the 2023 Valencia Marathon. But it wasn’t the time he wanted.

“I came to Tokyo for more, but I’m leaving even more motivated. I’m still learning the marathon, but I’m happy with the progress I’ve made and the lessons learned,” Cheptegei posted to Instagram.  

RADCLIFFE RETURNS

Paula Radcliffe has run her first marathon since 2015.

The 51-year-old returned 10-years after retiring and ran 2:57:26, finishing as the 110th woman in the race. She’s also planning to run the 2025 Boston Marathon, which will see her collect her Six Star Medal. 

POP STAR’S STYLES-ISH PACING 

Pop superstar Harry Styles ran the 2025 Tokyo Marathon. 

In near-perfect pacing, he ran the first half in 01:42:03 and the second half in 01:42:04 to finish in 3:24:07. He finished 6,010th out of around 26,000 men in the race, wearing a pair of volt-yellow Nike Alphafly 3. 

WINNING SHOES

What shoes were the winners wearing? 

In the men’s race, the shoe podium was: 

🥇 Adidas Adios Pro Evo 1 V2
🥈 Nike Vaporfly 4
🥉 ASICS Development Shoe

In the women’s race, the shoe podium was: 

🥇 ON Cloudboom Strike LS
🥈 ASICS Development Shoe
🥉 Adidas Adios Pro 4

The 2025 Tokyo Marathon was the first race since the new Nike Vaporfly 4 was released, and it’s straight onto the men’s podium in second place. 

THERE ARE NOW MORE THAN 20,000 SIX STAR FINISHERS!

There were 37,785 finishers in the 2025 Tokyo Marathon, and 2,300 of them picked up their finisher’s medal and then collected their Six Star medal. There are now over 20,000 people who have a Six Star medal, meaning they’ve completed the marathons in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. 

For the first time, duo teams have also achieved Six Star medals. Two teams with one runner and one wheelchair user claimed their Six Star medal in Tokyo. 

WANT TO RUN THE 2026 TOKYO MARATHON?

There are several ways to run the 2026 Tokyo Marathon. 

You can apply for a charity place (24 June-9 July) or the general public ballot is in August (15-29 August). International runners are most likely to get into the Tokyo Marathon by going with a sports tour operator who arranges entry and hotels. 

Charity entry into the Tokyo Marathon is essentially a bid for your bib. The minimum donation is 100,000 Yen (£525/$650) and you bid the amount you wish to donate. If you’re successfully picked for one of the 5,000 charity places then the amount you donate is automatically withdrawn and will be shared among a range of charities. 

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Image from Tokyo Marathon