95,000 applicants for 30,000 spots - about the number of people inside the Shibuya train station at any given point in time.
This was the "first" Tokyo marathon which was really just the marriage of two smaller marathons within the Tokyo metro area. The course went by the Palace, Tokyo Tower, upscale shopping district in Ginza and the Tokyo Big Site (which I have no idea what that really is).
For the record, we sat this one out. Our marathon day started with an H&H poppy seed bagel imported from NYC with cream cheese, salmon, red onion and capers for Nicole (Listerine anyone?) and eggs over easy with toast for Chris (where's my Lipitor?).
It was pouring and in the low 40s - not a great day to stand on a curb and watch people run by for 3+ hours so we only watched for 45 minutes. We saw 2 people from our running club - but didn't know who they were. More importantly, we saw one Santa Claus, a man in a wedding dress and a team dressed in black jump suits with red bow ties and top hats.
One thing is for sure, the crowd was a little more subdued than in Boston and New York where runners have to overcome hills, exhaustion and the stench of stale beer.
This was the "first" Tokyo marathon which was really just the marriage of two smaller marathons within the Tokyo metro area. The course went by the Palace, Tokyo Tower, upscale shopping district in Ginza and the Tokyo Big Site (which I have no idea what that really is).
For the record, we sat this one out. Our marathon day started with an H&H poppy seed bagel imported from NYC with cream cheese, salmon, red onion and capers for Nicole (Listerine anyone?) and eggs over easy with toast for Chris (where's my Lipitor?).
It was pouring and in the low 40s - not a great day to stand on a curb and watch people run by for 3+ hours so we only watched for 45 minutes. We saw 2 people from our running club - but didn't know who they were. More importantly, we saw one Santa Claus, a man in a wedding dress and a team dressed in black jump suits with red bow ties and top hats.
One thing is for sure, the crowd was a little more subdued than in Boston and New York where runners have to overcome hills, exhaustion and the stench of stale beer.
