Race Date: 26th Feb 2017

Added to the World Marathon Majors in 2013, The Tokyo Marathon this year saw a new course aiming to reduce some of the elevation gain across the 26.2 miles.

At the sharp end of the race, Wilson Kipsang was feeling confident and proclaimed he’d be aiming to break the world record. He did win the race, but a pedestrian 5k split of 15:00 from 30-35k saw his world record attempt fall short. He finished in 2:03:58, becoming the first person to run four sub 2:04 marathons. This was also the fastest marathon ever run on Asian soil.

First female home was Sarah Chepchirchir also of Kenya running 2:19:47. Chepchirchir is the training partner and sister-in-law of Olympic and London marathon winner Jemima Sumgong and is due to pace her at London this year. She joins an elite group of athletes to have run under the 2:20 mark and is now the 16th fastest female of all time.

Strider turnout at this marathon was, understandably, poor. Sian Evans made the 12,000 mile round trip to take part and put in a fantastic performance. Congratulations Sian and well done for clocking up the most exotic race of the season so far. It certainly looked more glamorous than the Dewsbury 10k.

Strider Results:

Sian Evans, 6th British Female, 3:12:30