News
Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon 2027 Lottery Opens August 14 Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon Ballot Odds: 20 Years of Numbers Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon Entry Fee 2027: What It Costs Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon Qualifying Times: 2:22 and 2:50 Jul 29 ONE TOKYO GLOBAL: A Second Route Into Tokyo Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon Charity Entry: 5,000 Places, One Window Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon 2027 Sets a Record $170,000 Prize Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon 2026 Results: Takele and Kosgei Win Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon 2027 Grows to a Record 40,000 Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon Weather: What March Really Delivers
[ Wire ] · Dispatch · Jul 29

Tokyo Marathon 2027 Sets a Record $170,000 Prize

The Tokyo Marathon will pay USD 170,000 to each of its men's and women's marathon champions in 2027, which the Tokyo Marathon Foundation describes as the largest ever in Abbott World Marathon Majors history. The announcement came on June 22, 2026, alongside a field increase to 40,000 runners for the race's 20th anniversary edition on March 7, 2027.

How much does the Tokyo Marathon winner get?

USD 170,000, paid equally to the men's and women's champions. Equal prize money across genders is standard across the Majors, but the headline figure is not. Tokyo has taken the top spot in a circuit where London, Boston, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Sydney and Cape Town all compete for the same small pool of sub-2:05 talent every year.

Why is Tokyo spending this now?

The 2027 race is the 20th edition, counting from the first mass-participation Tokyo Marathon in 2007. The Foundation is pairing the prize with a record 40,000-runner field, up from 39,000, a new full-distance para-athlete marathon division and official status for the Duo Team category. Tokyo also owns a scheduling advantage: as the first Major of the calendar year, it sets the tone for the season and attracts athletes hunting an early world lead.

Will it produce a fast race?

Tokyo is already the fastest Major course on paper. Benson Kipruto's 2:02:16 from 2024 stands as the men's course record, and Brigid Kosgei ran 2:14:29 in March 2026 for the women's record, which also stood as an Asian all-comers record. The course is flat, the March weather is usually cool, and the point-to-point route from Shinjuku to Tokyo Station loses more elevation than it gains. Course profile and past winning times are on the Tokyo Marathon page.

Does prize money change anything for amateur runners?

Not directly, but the field expansion does. Forty thousand places is the largest Tokyo has ever offered, and the general lottery that most runners use opens August 14 and closes August 28, 2026, with results September 18. The elite spending and the mass-participation growth are two halves of the same 20th anniversary push, and the entry routes are detailed in how to enter the Tokyo Marathon.

What happens to the 10.7km race?

It is gone. The Foundation replaced the 10.7km race with a full-distance para-athlete marathon division for eligible classes, a structural change rather than a cosmetic one for the 2027 edition.

Free alerts cover the Tokyo ballot window from both ends, so the August dates for the biggest Tokyo field ever do not slip past.

Sources: Tokyo Marathon Foundation: Announcement regarding the Tokyo Marathon 2027

Sources Tokyo Marathon Foundation Prize amount, field size increase, new divisions and 20th anniversary framing from the Tokyo Marathon Foundation announcement regarding the Tokyo Marathon 2027, published June 22, 2026. Course records verified against World Athletics and race reports.