The Tokyo Marathon will offer a $170,000 prize to both its men's and women's elite champions at the 2027 race on Sunday 7 March, a figure reported as the largest winner's payout in the Abbott World Marathon Majors. The organisers announced the increase in June, and coverage described it as more than double the previous first prize. The 2027 race will also be the 20th anniversary edition of the event.
The field will grow from 39,000 to a record 40,000 runners, which the organisers describe as the largest marathon in Japan. The 10.7km race that previously ran alongside the marathon has been dropped, with its participants folded into the full distance. Tokyo has also added a new para-athlete division over the full 42.195km, created further entry categories for people with disabilities, and promoted the Duo Team division, in which a buggy rider is paired with a pusher, from a trial in 2025 to an official class.
Entry for 2027 followed a staged schedule that opened on 24 June. The fee was 19,800 yen for residents of Japan and $230 for overseas applicants. Charity places, numbering 5,000, were handled in July and August, a semi-elite category of 280 places ran from 31 July to 13 August, and general entry ran from 14 to 28 August. Where applications exceeded capacity, a lottery decided places, with priority draws for ONE TOKYO members who had missed the 2024 to 2026 editions and a block of 1,000 places reserved for Tokyo residents. Those windows have now closed.
The prize increase has competitive implications. Tokyo sits early in the Majors calendar and has recently produced fast times, with Kosgei setting a course record in the 2026 race. A larger winner's cheque, combined with appearance fees, strengthens the event's hand in recruiting leading athletes at a time when Majors compete for the same small group of elite runners across the spring and autumn seasons. The organisers' own figures did not give the previous first prize or a full prize breakdown beyond the champions.
For recreational runners the larger field marginally improves the odds in what is one of the most heavily oversubscribed marathon ballots in the world. The next major prize-money and field developments to watch include the New York City Marathon on 1 November, which marks its 50th anniversary, and the Boston Marathon on 19 April 2027.