Photo/Illutration Runners start at the Tokyo metropolitan government building in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward on March 5. (Pool)

The Tokyo Marathon marked its full-scale return after four years with 38,420 runners racing through the streets of the capital on March 5.

With no COVID-19 restrictions in place, thousands of spectators cheered on the runners along the route.

Starting at the Tokyo metropolitan government building in Shinjuku Ward, the runners passed by Tokyo Tower, the Kaminarimon gate in Asakusa, and other iconic places of the city before finishing at Tokyo Station.

With the mild, cloudy weather and a high of 13.1 degrees, the competitors enjoyed the country’s most popular race at their own pace.

In 2020, when the pandemic began, only selected high-profile runners were invited to the Tokyo Marathon.

The race was canceled the following year before coming back in 2022.

Fewer than 20,000 people joined the scaled-back competition that year as the organizer discouraged those 65 or older and those with pre-existing health conditions from participating.

As the latest event was reopened to people from abroad, 12,000 international runners participated in the race.

Wendy McClymont came from Canada to finish her two-decades-long pursuit of completing the world’s six major marathons: New York, Chicago, Boston, London, Berlin and Tokyo.

“The city was beautiful and I really enjoyed it,” said McClymont, 59. “There was a lady along the road who gave me Coke, which helped me not to be dehydrated. I loved people’s kindness, too.”

Noting the required COVID-19 tests and daily reporting of her physical condition in Tokyo, she said “We don’t have these precautions in Canada, but we’re in Japan, so we respect the rule and the culture.”

Visiting Japan for the first time, Marlin Ulin from Guatemala was excited to see the tourist attractions along the route.

”We will go to Mount Fuji, Osaka, Kyoto and Nara after this. We want to enjoy our vacation in Japan,” said the 33-year-old accountant.

Now that Japan has reopened its border to tourists, spectators at the marathon provided a cosmopolitan atmosphere.

A group of joyful Brazilians from inside and outside Japan cheered on their friends near Kanda Station.

Among them was a 35-year-old woman from Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, who said she wanted to participate in the race but couldn’t win a spot in the lottery for entrants.

“We’ll do our best to cheer on our friends, including those who have come from Brazil for the race,” she said.

As she waved flags with her friends from Fukui and Shizuoka prefectures, the Brazilian woman said she had a lot of runner friends on social media.

(This article was compiled from reports by staff writers Shin Kasahara and Yumi Nakayama.)

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