Olympic marathon trials have always generated major interest among the Japanese public. But the attention will be even greater this year, thanks to the first-ever Marathon Grand Championship.
Thirty-one 31 male and 12 female runners who qualified for the event will take the start line on Sept. 15 in Tokyo. The men's race will start at 8:50 a.m. while the women's competition will kick off at 9:10 a.m.
The top two finishers in each race will book spots at next year’s Tokyo Olympics. After the MGC, the Japan Association of Athletics Federations will host three more qualification races each for men and women as the “MGC Final Challenge.” If the fastest runners in those competitions exceed the marks set by the national governing body (2 hours, 5 minutes, 49 seconds for the men and 2:22:22 for the women), they’ll punch the third and final ticket to the Summer Games. Otherwise, the third-place finishers in the MGC will make the national squad.