Yokohama Marathon 2024 Race Experience

This full marathon (42.195 kilometers/26.2 miles) is a medium to large size with 22,000 participants, including 1,000 overseas participants. (There is a 7 km/4.3 miles fun run that happens simultaneously with the marathon.) The marathon has a strict 6-hour cut-off time. 

You’ll get to pass through the famous landmarks of Yokohama such as the Landmark Tower, Red Brick Warehouse, and Yamashita Park. You’ll see cheer squads, volunteers, and even bands along the course.  

One of the epic parts of the race is running on the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line Expressway. Yes, you heard that right! You run on the freeway without having any cars or vehicles pass by. We wanted to see what it was like to run along the rolling freeway and pretend to be a car. 

Also, the location is a huge plus! Yokohama City is south of Tokyo and only a 45-minute train ride from Haneda International Airport, so it’s easy to get here from the Tokyo area. 

For overseas registration, we signed up through JTB Sports website during the application period from April 10 to June 20, 2024, so 4-5 months before the race date. This was our registration page. 

There were only 1,000 spots available for overseas participants, so registration was first come first served. We were excited to participate and signed up on the first day!

The cost was 20,000 JPY + 2,200 JPY online processing fee, a total of 22,200 JPY. 

We paid using an international credit card. We’re from the U.S. and used the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card for payment. With this credit card or Chase Sapphire Preferred card, we don’t need to pay any foreign transaction fees. 

The cost includes a participant t-shirt, finisher’s medal, commemorative towel, bib, shoe measurement tag, and free baggage check. 

During registration, we registered for a t-shirt size. The unisex t-shirts were Japanese sizes so there was a warning that they would be smaller than Western sizes. 

So, please refer to the size chart on the registration page for the shirt dimensions. Sizes cannot be exchanged after registration. 

Here is the t-shirt size chart for our race shirt. Credit: Yokohama Marathon Registration Page on JTB Sports

Justin wears a Men’s x-small (in U.S. sizing) and I’m a Women Medium (in U.S. sizing), so we both chose a Small (unisex Japanese sizing). The shirt was made by Blank Apparel.

To be honest, the shirt was baggy for us. The shoulders and shirt length were long and the torso area was flowy. For women, I suggest sizing down but verify with the size chart. We’re just used to more fitted shirts, but I guess clothes are now looser.

The best way to stay up to date with the race is by checking out the marathon’s main website, Facebook, and Instagram social media handles and using the auto-translate function as necessary. I found the Facebook and IG pages to be current compared to the website. 

We only received two emails from the marathon. They were concise and had race information. 

1) The confirmation for signing up for the race, and 

2) The race participation guide for overseas registrants and baggage information. The email information is in English. This email was sent 1 week before the race event and had everything you needed to know about the race and expo. 

The start line and Expo takes place at the Pacifco Yokohama Exhibition Hall. 

We recommend staying near a train station to get to Pacifico Yokohama Exhibition Hall easily. You can take the train everywhere to do less walking on the day before and the day of the race. 

Stay near any of these stations:

• Minatomirai Station (5 mins to start line)

• Sakuragicho (12 mins to start line)

• Yokohama East Exit (20 mins to start line)

Once you’re confirmed to participate in the race, book your accommodations ASAP! We booked our hotel 4 months in advance since we didn’t want to miss out. 

We stayed at JR East Hotel Mets Yokohama as it was next to the Yokohama Station. 

The location was great as it was walkable to the Expo and start line. It was about a 20-25 minute walk to the starting area. Plus, we could hop onto the train from Yokohama Station to go to Tokyo. 

We stayed for three nights and it was a comfortable stay. The room had more space compared to an APA hotel, so it was fine for 2 people. There was an ensuite bathroom, a small couch, TV, and mini fridge. We didn’t have breakfast included in the room, but could get coffee and tea in the lobby at any time of the day. 

The hotel had two front load washing machine/dryer combo unit available. This was helpful since our clothes stunk after finishing the race and we needed clean clothes. Payment was done with coins or IC card (ie: Suica, ICOCA, etc) 

The Expo, located at Pacifico Exhibtion Hall, Zone A, took place on Saturday, October 26. It was only open for one day – the day before the race from 10:00am to 5:00pm. 

We did a short shake-out run before going to the Expo, and arrived around 11:30am. It was easy to find the location as we followed people. 

The Expo wasn’t crowded at all. We’ve heard awful stories about the lines and crowds at Tokyo Marathon, and the Yokohama Marathon was the total opposite. 

There was a small section specifically for Overseas Registrants to pick up the marathon packet. It was quick and efficient – only took 2 minutes since there wasn’t a line. We received a box with our bibs, safety pins, drop-off baggage, shoe measurement chip, participant t-shirt, advertisements, and a recycle bag. 

This was one of the most low-key expos that we’ve been to. Half of the hall was for packet pick up and the other half of the venue was vendors. There were 5 to 6 vendors.  

We checked out these vendors, such as Puma at the Expo

The main vendor was Puma, a sponsor of the race. They had a pop-up tent showcasing their training and racing shoes. You could try them and buy them. 

There was another table of official Yokohama Marathon souvenirs for sale, and another sold sponge cakes. 

But for those who want free stuff, you’ll be disappointed. We saw one sponsor give away a hairbrush. 

We didn’t linger and just did a quick photo with our bibs and the “Finish line” and left to go back to our hotel. We also took photos of the actual Finish Line right outside of the xpo area.

We took this photo at the Expo

Marathon Day Experience & Tips

I don’t remember the exact temperature when we left our hotel to walk to the Baggage drop off/Starting line, but it was around 18℃ (64℉). 

We didn’t wear any throwaway clothes, but the race committee mentioned that volunteers would collect throwaway clothes at the starting line. 

Throughout the course, the temperature rose to 20℃ (68℉) and then got cloudy with some drizzling. I appreciated the cooler weather, especially after training in the hot and humid Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (where we live). 

When we received our race packet, we didn’t know why there were two bibs. I thought one was just for keeping as a souvenir. In the U.S, we only receive one bib.

When we walked to the Pacifico Exhibition Hall, we noticed runners wearing two bibs on the front and back of the shirt. We only had one bib on the front of the shirt. 

I didn’t read the participant guide closely as there was an image of the bib being placed on both sides of the shirt. Oops.  

Well, we weren’t alone as we saw other foreigners in our corral who only wore one bib. 

In the end, it wasn’t a problem with only having a bib on the front. We entered our corral without any issues. 

Surprisingly, there were plenty of portable bathrooms around the Pacifico Exhibition Hall and next to the starting lines of the corrals. 

The line was surprisingly quick – only 10 minutes for the Women’s portable bathrooms at the Pacifico Exhibition Hall. The women’s stalls had real toilets too! The men’s line snaked around so more time was needed. 

If you’re a fast runner, then you’ll be disappointed to hear that you’ll be stuck in the last corral. 

It seemed that the 1,000 overseas participants were automatically in the last block. You could tell based on the speed as Justin wrote a finish time of 3:30 during registration. 

It took about 21 minutes from the start of the marathon and for our corral to cross the start line. 

While I’m not a fast runner, I still had to swerve and go around the 7km fun run participants and runners with a more leisurely pace for the first 10km or so. Ah well, it was still an enjoyable race. 

The first half of the course was mostly shaded under the underpasses. 

The race started at the Landmark Tower. There was a countdown timer for the start of the race and then we heard the crowds and spectators cheer for the start. 

I don’t remember much of the course in the beginning, but we passed by the Yamashita Park. 

Then we went to a non-scenic part of the race where we ran away from the tourist destinations and followed a highway underpass. This part of the course was pancake flat and provided shade (which I appreciated.)

But the freeway section had rolling hills. 

Around the 20 km/12.4 miles mark, it’s where things got challenging. It was the start of running of running on the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line Expressway, so the course had rolling hills. 

And the freeway part lasted until 36 km/22 miles, so a total of 16 km/10 miles on the freeway. 

Here is the elevation chart from the participant guide: 

Here is the course elevation chart. Credit: Yokohama Marathon 2024 Participant Guide

Closing the freeway for the runners was a special experience. The road itself was smooth and nicely paved. The highway did not have any shade, but luckily we had cloudy skies. 

Many of the ticket booths had inspiring messages such as “Go Go Go Runners” or a countdown of how many more kilometers to go till the finish line (in Japanese). 

There was a section where people could dump water on their heads. 

I just took it easy on the freeway part as I didn’t train on hilly terrain. I jogged for a little bit and then walked for a few seconds and restarted the rhythm. 

I saw a lot of runners who were off to the side – either in pain, stretched tight muscles, or needed medical assistance. I saw one person throw up on the center divider. So, this section isn’t easy!

Luckily all the volunteers managing the water stations, cheer squads, and music performances made this section pass by quickly!

• Do not litter on the course. Each water station will have trash bins and many of the spectators will hold a plastic bag and collect trash. 

• Race photos and electronic finisher’s certificates are available on the Yokohama Marathon’s website. We didn’t receive an email about the race photos, but we checked out the website for both of these. 

• Don’t forget to continue moving after the race to help with recovery. We did a bunch of stretching and also had a celebratory dinner at Sushiro!