My Reflections on the 2026 Tokyo Marathon with Asics
“Everything changes” was my mantra during the 2026 Tokyo Marathon. I had been in Japan for 10 days ahead of the race, exploring Tokyo, Kyoto, and a small mountain village called Koyasan with two friends. Japan is an exhilarating land of contradictions and contrasts, where no one jaywalks, public restrooms are spotless, and there are vending machines along mountain hiking paths. In whatever you want to explore, be it green tea, arcade games, topiary design, ramen broth, or even Hi-Chew flavors, you can go very deep.
When I first began running in 2012, it was as a form of meditation, and I treated it like a breathing exercise. My goal was to run for 30 minutes, and pace was not even a thing I thought about. On a whim, in January 2015 I put my name in for the New York Marathon and had absolutely no expectations. When I found out that March that I was selected, I realized I had no idea how to train for a marathon. I spent the summer exploring Druid Hill Park in what were our first months in Baltimore. Similarly on a whim, in November 2025 I entered a drawing to win an ASICS-sponsored bib for the 2026 Tokyo Marathon. At the time, I was participating in a research study at Johns Hopkins, and the day after I entered the raffle, and after 8 hours spent in a windowless room and without Internet access, I got the following text from Kira:
My spouse, son, and I were in the car on our way home, and I chuckled and blurted out that I won the bib to Tokyo, but my spouse had no idea what I was talking about—I hadn’t yet told her I put my name in for it. The marathon was March 1, my son’s birthday is February 28, and my wife had a big conference in Baltimore that started March 4. Despite feeling like some logistics didn’t totally align, we both knew that there was no way I could pass up the opportunity to go run Tokyo. I got acquainted with Mack, who manages ASICS’ run club partnerships, registered for the race, and set up my training plan.
As part of winning an entry, I got some wonderful gear from ASICS. The Superblast 2, Megablast, and even Gel Nimbus 28 came my way, and I’ve absolutely loved all of them. I did speed days in Sonicblasts and my easy runs became more fun in the Novablast 5. I’ll always remember the first time I ran in the Metaspeed Edge Tokyo, when it felt like my feet were barely touching the ground and I was gliding through space, and in so doing came to realize I’m a cadence runner (I take more steps when I pick up the pace). I delighted in the smartwatch window on the Road Winter Jacket that also kept me crazy warm on so many runs this winter; the Metarun Waterproof Jacket’s adjustable hood was an insulation revelation during a 19-mile long run, especially as I was on my way back from Lazaretto Point with a 30-mph headwind on Clinton Street in subfreezing temperatures. And I got several singlets! The only proper singlet I had had was the Tribe one I wore for the 2024 Baltimore Marathon—for years I had made my own by cutting the sleeves off of race premiums. In so many ways, this marathon build was inspiring and affirming, and helped me level up my running practice.
For the first time, I trained slow to race fast; I spent my build getting comfortable in zone 2 (and when I had trouble doing so, visualizing zone 2 heart rates, which sometimes worked), and incorporated strides and speed workouts. I began to believe I could bring my time down into the low 3:30s, maybe even high 3:20s. I’d been longing for a flat, fast course, and Tokyo was just that—it felt like kismet.
My training plan didn’t have much of a taper, as I only had 12 weeks’ time to build for the marathon anyway. I arrived to Japan 10 days before the race, and had a lot I wanted to do and see in addition to training. (I run a secondhand clothing showroom and was excited to shop and source pieces by Japanese designers.) I missed a couple of runs, including a 15-mile workout, and hoped that my time on feet (about 11 hours each day and thousands of steps) would keep my fitness afloat.
We spent a few days in Tokyo, a couple in Kyoto, and a couple in Koyasan, the sacred headquarters of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, where my friends and I stayed in one of the 51 temples that have guest rooms (there are a total of 117 Buddhist temples in the area). I trusted the process and forgave myself for going 4 straight days without running the week before the race, in favor of doing some psychological pruning in the form of exploring temples and shrines and wandering through Japan’s largest cemetery, the 1,200-year-old Okuno-in in Koyasan. It was there that I realized that “everything changes” would be my mantra during the marathon.
Once we returned to Tokyo, my entire focus was on getting ready for the race. Thanks to ASICS, I had a room close to the starting line. The hotel was decked out with images from the Superblast 3 campaign, and it was special and invigorating to be around so many other runners. I ran my last 8-mile workout around Yoyogi Park at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday night. After a shakeout, I met up on Friday with Mack and the other raffle winner, Rachel, and her family, and we took a car to the expo, at Tokyo Big Sight. There, we ran into Jarhett, for whom Tokyo would be his sixth star. On Saturday, I met up with Julie Montone, Becca Sullivan, and Brittany Brugos for a shakeout, which made the world feel wonderfully small. All the while, I was carb loading: ramen, pizzas, and soba; onigiri; cream puffs; Aquarius and Pocari Sweat; CalorieMate.
In keeping with how I generally experience them, race day was exciting and intimidating. Thanks to being so close to the starting line, I could sleep in and leave the hotel at 8:15 a.m. to get to my corral before the entry cutoff. I sported my Metaspeed Edge Tokyo, ASICS shorts and singlet, and Tribe pink wolves cap. The race started at 9 a.m., and the 38,000+ runners were serenaded by Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman shredding on an elevated stage next to the starting line. The weather was forecast to be on the warmer side, but I was locked in. I had planned to start with the 3:40 pace group and move up to the 3:30 group, but after I stopped at a restroom shortly after the start, I was behind the 4:00 pace group with work to do. I spent the rest of the race moving through the crowd, along the way cheered by new friends like Julie’s sister Alyssa, who managed to spot me and get my attention 3 separate times; and Mack and the photographer Joe Greer, who was photographing ASICS runners during the race.
The race itself was exhilarating, challenging, and transformational, which is what I come to expect from marathons. I’ve run seven, and Tokyo was the first one in which I ran the whole time, and I ran a personal best time of 3:34, a 15-minute PR. I had hoped to break 3:30, though considering I had been on my feet all day every day exploring Japan the 10 days prior, I counted myself fortunate that I was able to achieve what I did. It’s been such a dream few months for my running practice and my belief in my capacity to develop and grow as a runner, and to get to know Japan was unforgettable. No matter the circumstances, openness and acceptance are invaluable allies because everything changes.