Tadese Takele and Sutume Asefa Kebede Win 2025 Tokyo Marathon
The Tokyo Marathon kicked off the World Major Marathon circuit on Sunday morning (Japan time). Over 37,000 runners competed on a moderately cool day in the capital. The temperature at the start was 13ºc, which climbed throughout the day, with partly cloudy skies.
Takele wins the men’s race
Tadese Takele of Ethiopia won the 2025 Tokyo Marathon in 2:02:23, dropping Deresa Geleta (Ethiopia) and Vincent Ngetich (Kenya) in the final 5K. Geleta took second in 2:03:51, and Ngetich finished in 2:04:00 to round out the podium.
Takele knocked just over a minute off his personal best of 2:03:24 from the 2023 Berlin Marathon, where he placed third in his debut at the distance. The 22-year-old is a former steeplechaser, competing in the event at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
During the first half of Sunday’s race, a group of ten formed at the front. After 28K (17.4 miles), the group started to string out, led by Ngetich. Once the final pacer stepped off, the podium began to solidify. Notably absent from the trio was the reigning champion, Benson Kipruto, who placed sixth in 2:05:46.
At 38K, Ngetich began to fall off the pace, then Geleta lost contact with Takele a kilometer later. Takele was not threatened for the remainder of the race.
Joshua Cheptegei, the world record holder in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, ran a patient race to finish in ninth place, running a personal best of 2:05:59.
Kebede front-runs to victory in women’s race
Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa Kebede successfully defended her Tokyo Marathon title, winning the women’s race in 2:16:31. Winfridah Moseti of Kenya was second in 2:16:56, and Hawi Feysa, also of Ethiopia, ran 2:17:00 for third.
Last year, Kebede made a strong move with two kilometers left to win the race, setting the course record of 2:15:55. But this year was different. From the gun, Kebede separated herself from the other women in the race, creating a gap that ballooned to nearly two minutes by 25K (15.5 miles). But her lead dwindled in the final miles. Kebede covered the last 2K in 7:56, while Moseti gained ground, closing in 6:59.
Kebede, 30, had an impressive year in 2024. In addition to Tokyo, she won the Houston Half Marathon in 1:04:37 and was runner-up at the Chicago Marathon in 2:17:32.
More highlights from Tokyo
Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland took top honors in the women’s wheelchair race in a course record of 1:35:56. She held off American Susanna Scaroni (1:36:28) and China’s Zhou Zhaoqian (1:37:46).
The men’s wheelchair race saw a course record fall as well. Tomoki Suzuki of Japan demolished the field, finishing in 1:19:14. Luo Xingchuan (1:30:28) and Zhang Ying (1:30:57)—both from China—completed the top three.
Cal Calamia won the marathon’s inaugural nonbinary division in 2:43:48. Hitoshi Takamatsu ran 2:51:10 for second, and Nate Crail was third in 2:57:41. The Tokyo Marathon was the last World Major Marathon to add a nonbinary category.
For the first time in 10 years, former world record holder Paula Radcliffe ran a marathon. The 51-year-old Brit crossed the line on Sunday in 2:57:22. She plans to run the Boston Marathon in April as well to earn her Six Star medal.
One step ahead of Paula is RW's own Rachel Boswell, who ran Tokyo to claim her Six Star medal. Rachel started her majors journey back in 2021 and has successfully run sub-3 hours for all of her majors, including a PB of 2:50:38. A huge congrats to Rachel from all the team!
You Might Also Like
