Top 5 marathons in the world
Marathon was first started to honour the fabled run of Greek messenger, Pheidippides, who was sent from Marathon to Athens to announce Greece’s victory over Persia, in the Battle of Marathon. According to myth, Pheidippides ran the entire distance without stopping and eventually after declaring the news, he collapsed and died.
Thus the drive of a marathon is to unify a dynamic force, a challenge within oneself to run that extra mile and to test one’s limits to the fullest. It’s this self-punishing attitude that works as a driving force for almost all marathon runners.
Marathons bring together the enthusiasm of people from all around the world. The race event infuses among people a sense of brotherhood, where people from all aspects of life come together for a common cause, to push their own limits and collectively boost each other. There is nothing that is more inspirational than to witness these marathons with our own eyes.
Here are the top 5 marathons in the world. These 5 are about so much more than just the race themselves.
#5 Tokyo Marathon
The Tokyo Marathon, which is sponsored by Tokyo Metro is an IAAF Gold Label marathon and one of the six World Marathon Majors. It is the only marathon in Japan that includes both the elite and mass participation categories. Through its motto, "The Day We Unite," the Tokyo road-race brings together runners, volunteers, and spectators on race day.
The first Tokyo Marathon was held on 18 February 2007. However, years prior to that, Tokyo Marathon actually consisted of two marathons, the Tokyo International Marathon and Tokyo - New York Friendship International Marathon.
In the inaugural year, 1981, both marathons took place. However, because it was not possible to support two marathons in the same city, from 1982, the alternating format went into effect.
The current course record in men’s is held by Dickson Chumba of Kenya who registered a time of 2:05:42 in 2014. Helah Kiprop, who also hail from Kenya tops the women’s leaderboard with a time of 2:21:27. Masakazu Fujiwara is the only Japanese male to have won the marathon in 2010.