The Tokyo Marathon—the first World Marathon Major of 2024—took place Sunday morning in Japan. In near-perfect conditions, with a starting temperature of about 42 degrees, more than 37,000 runners took to the streets in Japan’s capital city. Course records fell, although several notable pre-race favorites fell short.
Here are the highlights.
Benson Kipruto wins men’s race in a course record
It was a Kenyan sweep in the men’s race: Boston and Chicago Marathon champion Benson Kipruto, 32, of Kenya, won in 2:02:16, a course record by 24 seconds. Timothy Kiplagat, 30, placed second in a personal-best 2:02:55, while Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich, 25, was third in 2:04:18.
Led by a trio of pacers, a pack of seven men blazed out at world record pace, traveling the first 5K in 14:16 (4:36 pace). By 15K, the pace had slowed, but only four men (and two pacers) remained: Kipruto, Kiplagat, and Ngetich, and Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, 39, the two-time Olympic champion and former world record holder.
Around 20K, Kipchoge—who won and set the course record here in 2022—began to slip back. By 25K, he was more than a minute back. His pace continued to slide—he covered 30 to 35K in 15:49—and by then, he’d fallen to tenth.
Around the 27K mark, Kiplagat opened a slight gap on Kipruto and Ngetich, holding a solo lead for several kilometers. But at 32K, Kipruto caught up, and the pair stayed close until not long after the 35-kilometer mark, when Kipruto made a definitive move. Kipchoge finished 10th in 2:06:50. There were no American men in the elite field.
Sutume Asefa Kebede takes down women’s course record
The women’s course record also fell when Sutume Asefa Kebede, 29, of Ethiopia, won in 2:15:55. Defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru, 29, of Kenya, placed second in a personal-best 2:16:14. Amane Beriso Shankule, 32, of Ethiopia, the reigning world champion, took third in 2:16:58.
Unlike the men, the women started more conservatively, then picked up the pace. The lead pack covered the first 5K in 16:16, a 5:12 pace. Shankule led much of the race as competitors dropped off; the pack thinned to seven by 15K, four by 25K, and the top three by 30K as the pace ratcheted down (Shankule, Wanjiru,and Kebede covered 25K to 30K in 15:59, 5:09 pace).
Just before the 40K mark, Shankule fell back. Then, at the fluid stop just after the 40K mark, Kebede pulled ahead of Wanjiru, battling to the clock to better the 2:16:02 Brigid Kosgei ran here in 2021.
Sifan Hassan, 31, of the Netherlands, was fourth in 2:18:05—it was her third marathon, and her first loss. However, her time was still faster than the 2:18:33 she ran Saina shines after disappointment at Trials.
World Marathon MajorsRanked
We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back Betsy Saina, 35, crossed the line second in 1:28:33 We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back in Orlando, Florida, after the 21-mile mark of the race. Even though Saina had been in contention for the third spot, she suddenly pulled off the course and flopped in the grass at the side of the road, a victim of the rising temperatures.
Saina quickly regrouped and was a late addition to the field for the Tokyo Marathon on March 3. In much cooler weather, Saina finished fifth in 2:19:17. It was a PR by 2:23, the third-fastest time by an American woman (behind Emily Sisson and Keira D’Amato), and some measure of redemption after the disappointment of the Trials. She averaged 5:18.7 per mile.
Health - Injuries
Japan’s national record holder Tomoki Suzuki, 29, won the men’s wheelchair race in a time of 1:23:05—last year, he placed second to Marcel Hug, who didn’t compete today. American Daniel Romanchuk, 25, DAA Industry Opt Out.
On the women’s side, Manuela Schar, 39, of Switzerland defended her title, winning in 1:40:10. British racer Eden Rainbow-Cooper, 22, was took second in 1:40:28, while American Susannah Scaroni, 32, placed third in 1:41:35.
—Races & Places
Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013. She’s the coauthor of both Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart and Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, a book about the psychology of sports injury from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes accomplishing extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.
