Tokyo Marathon organizers prepare to host 25,000 runners at October race

A recent report from Japan Running News (JRN) says organizers of the Tokyo Marathon have decided to open their mass participation race to 25,000 runners, down from the pre-pandemic capacity of 38,000. Traditionally held in late February or early March as the first race of the World Marathon Major (WMM) season, organizers moved the 2021 Tokyo Marathon to the fall in the hopes that the pandemic would be less severe later in the year. The event, which was originally set for March 7, is now scheduled to run on October 17. 

Not a sure thing 

In 2020, just as the pandemic was first spreading across the globe, organizers of the Tokyo Marathon decided to cancel their mass participation event and instead only hold elite and wheelchair races. This year, they are looking to get back to some kind of normalcy with a reduced mass field, but they have acknowledged that the October race date is far from a sure thing.

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As JRN reports, if the pandemic persists through the summer and into the fall, there’s a good chance the event won’t happen in any capacity. The final decision will come down to whether the Japanese government declares a state of emergency within a month of the marathon. If that happens, organizers will cancel the race altogether. “Holding a safe and secure event is our number one priority,” an official said. 

After the cancellation of the 2020 mass participation race, runners had the option of pushing their registration to 2021 or 2022. According to JRN, around 7,000 people pushed their entries to 2021, which means there are another 18,000 spots up for grabs in the newly reduced field. 

International entries will be accepted for the race, and registration is set to run from March 22 to 31. 

A busy fall 

Fall is still pretty far away, and a lot could happen between now and then. Tokyo organizers aren’t alone in planning for a fall race, though, and the other five WMMs are also set for run dates between September and November.

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The Berlin Marathon will kick the WMM calendar off on September 26, followed by the London Marathon on October 3. The next weekend, the Chicago and Boston marathons will run on consecutive days (October 10 and 11), and Tokyo is set to go one week later on October 17. Everything will wrap up on November 7 in New York City, closing a wildly busy six weeks of racing. 

So far, all of the WMMs have stuck to their plans to hold a 2021 race, although like in Tokyo, organizers in Boston have said the fate of their marathon is in the hands of the local and state governments. 

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