Tokyo Marathon 2013

 東京マラソン２０１３年

Nothing stops Tokyo in its tracks like the sight of bare, muscular legs in mid-winter.

The Tokyo Marathon 2013 happened two days ago, on Sunday 24 February at 9:10 A.M. The Tokyo Marathon was exceptionally popular this year, with over 300,000 people applying for the 3,000 places available - chosen by a draw.


Unlike most of the Tokyo Marathons to date, the weather was glorious, albeit frigid. The bright sunny weather drew out hundreds of spectators along the course of the Tokyo Marathon 2013, which was, of course, closed to traffic.

The Tokyo Marathon 2013 had its share of wackiness in the form of oddball costumes, but at heart marathons are serious affairs, and was dominated by African runners, especially from Kenya.

The defending champion was Michael Kipkorir Kipyego of Kenya, but he was beaten by compatriot, Dennis Kipruto Kimetto, who with a time of 2:06:50 was six seconds faster than Kipyego. This time set a Tokyo Marathon record, breaking that set by Swiss runner, Viktor Rothlin, in 2008. Kimetto also won himself USD120,000 for his sterling effort.

The winning women's runner was the Ethiopian Aberu Kebede who beat compatriot Yeshi Esayias into second place with a winning time of 2:25:34. This was six seconds below the Tokyo Marathon women's record set by another Ethiopian woman, Atsede Hbtamu, in 2012.

Third place in the Tokyo Marathon 2013 also went to a Kenyan, Bernard Kipyeg, 2:07:53, closely followed by a Japanese athlete, Kazuhiro Maeda, 2:07:59 (better than his time in last year's Tokyo Marathon), who was followed by two more Kenyans!

See a YouTube video of the Tokyo Marathon 2013, brought to you by David of JapanVisitor.com.


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