The sixth and newest race in World Marathon Majors series, The Tokyo Marathon 2013, took place Saturday attracting a massive crowd of about 1.7 million sports fans.
The race set new records with 304,508 people applying for the event, and 10,000 volunteers signing up to assist.
Tokyo 2020 says the marathon showcased the city’s “exceptional organizational skills, unparalleled safety, and unmatched passion for sport, three of the many strengths underlying Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Games”.
Tsunekazu Takeda, International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and President of both the Japanese Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2020 said, “the Tokyo Marathon celebrates the remarkable power of sport to unite and inspire us all. The Japanese people love sport and are deeply proud of Tokyo’s global status as sporting hub. Today is another shining example of the immense joy Tokyo takes in welcoming people from around the world, whether it’s for a major marathon or the 2020 Olympic an Paralympic Games”.
The final stretch took the marathoners to the Tokyo Bay Zone and within view of the Rainbow Bridge. They finished at Tokyo Big Sight, Japan’s largest convention centre, which would serve as Tokyo 2020’s venue for wrestling, power lifting, fencing, taekwondo, boccia and wheelchair fending, as well as housing the International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre, should Tokyo host the Games.
A special feature of the Tokyo Marathon was a charity program in which 3,000 runners donated 100,000 yen (about 1,100 USD) or more to ongoing recovery efforts in north-east Japan following the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
