The Tokyo International Women's Marathon was a marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

 for female elite runners held in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 from 1979 until 2008 in November.

It was first held in November 1979, and this race was the first women's marathon officially sanctioned by the International Amateur Athletic Federation

International Association of Athletics Federations

The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...

 (IAAF). After Adriaan Paulen

Adriaan Paulen

Adriaan "Adje" Paulen was a Dutch athlete who competed from 1917 to 1931. During World War II, he was part of the Dutch resistance in the Netherlands...

, the IAAF president, watched this event, he announced his support for the women's Marathon to be included in the Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

.

After the 30th edition the organisers (Japan Association of Athletics Federations

Japan Association of Athletics Federations

The is the national governing body for the sport of athletics in Japan.- Presidents :*Ryuzō Hiranuma *Hiroshi Kasuga *Ichirō Kōno *Kenzō Kōno *Hanji Aoki *Yōhei Kōno - Competitions :...

 (JAAF), Asahi Shimbun

Asahi Shimbun

The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...

 and TV Asahi

TV Asahi

, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....

) discontinued the race, because the new Tokyo Marathon

Tokyo Marathon

The Tokyo International Marathon was a marathon for male elite runners held in Tokyo, Japan, from 1980 until 2006.It actually consisted of two marathons - the Tokyo International Marathon which took place on even years, and Tokyo-New York Friendship International Marathon which took place on odd...

 held since 2007 is open for general runners of both sexes and Metropolitan Police Department deemed it difficult to care for two different city marathon within one year.

The place of the Tokyo Women's Marathon in the Japanese race calendar was taken by the Yokohama Women's Marathon

Yokohama Women's Marathon

The Yokohama Women's Marathon is an annual marathon held in Yokohama, Japan, and hosted by Japan Association of Athletics Federations, TV Asahi, the Asahi Shimbun...

 whose first edition was held on November 15, 2009.

Winners

Key:

Year	Athlete	Country	Time
1979	Joyce Smith Joyce Smith Joyce Esther Smith is a British former long distance runner.Smith was born in Stoke Newington, London, and began running competitively in the 1950s, at which time the longest distance for women in international competitions was 800 metres. She won the English National Crosscountry Championship in...		2:37:48
1980	Joyce Smith		2:30:27
1981	Linda Staudt Linda Staudt Linda Staudt is a retired female long-distance runner from Canada. She won the 1981 edition of the Tokyo International Women's Marathon, clocking a total time of 2:34:28.-Achievements:-References:...		2:34:28
1982	Zoya Ivanova Zoya Ivanova Zoya Ivanova is a retired long-distance runner from Kazakhstan, who represented the Soviet Union in the women's marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea....		2:34:26
1983	Nanae Sasaki Nanae Sasaki , born as , was a Japanese long-distance runner.She was a high school teacher in Ōfunato, Iwate when she set a Japanese record of 2:40:56 at the Boston Marathon in 1981....		2:37:09
1984	Katrin Dörre Katrin Dörre Katrin Dörre-Heinig is a former athlete from Germany, who competed mainly in the marathon...		2:33:23
1985	Katrin Dörre		2:34:21
1986	Rosa Mota Rosa Mota Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes. She is also considered to have been one of the best marathon runners of the 20th century....		2:27:15
1987	Katrin Dörre		2:25:24
1988	Aurora Cunha Aurora Cunha Aurora Cunha is a retired long-distance runner from Portugal, who represented her native country in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1984. She won several marathons during her career, including Paris , Tokyo , Chicago and Rotterdam .-Achievements:-References:...		2:31:26
1989	Lyubov Klochko Lyubov Klochko Lyubov Klochko is a retired female long-distance runner from Ukraine. She set her personal best in the women's marathon in 1988.-Achievements:-References:*...		2:31:33
1990	Xie Lihua		2:33:04
1991	Mari Tanigawa		2:31:27
1992	Liz McColgan Liz McColgan Elizabeth McColgan MBE is a Scottish former middle-distance and long-distance track and road-running athlete. She won the gold medal for the 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships, and a silver medal over the same distance at the 1988 Olympic Games...		2:27:38
1993	Valentina Yegorova Valentina Yegorova Valentina Mikhailovna Yegorova is a long-distance runner from Russia. She was born in Cheboksary.Yegorova competed in the women's marathon for the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, Spain...		2:26:40
1994	Valentina Egorova		2:30:09
1995	Junko Asari Junko Asari is a retired Japanese marathon runner.She won the gold medal at the 1993 World Championships in a time of 2:30:03 hours. In addition she won the Tokyo International Women's Marathon in 1995 and 1998 and the Osaka Ladies Marathon in 1993. Her personal best time was 2:26:10, from January 1994 in Osaka...		2:28:46
1996	Nobuko Fujimura		2:28:58
1997	Makiko Ito		2:27:45
1998	Junko Asari		2:28:29
1999	Eri Yamaguchi Eri Yamaguchi Eri Yamaguchi is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon race.She won the 1999 Tokyo International Women's Marathon and finished seventh at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Her personal best time is 2:22:12 hours. -Achievements:-References:*...		2:22:12
2000	Joyce Chepchumba Joyce Chepchumba Joyce Chepchumba is a long distance athlete from Kenya.- Achievements :*1995**Tilburg Ten Miles winner**Parelloop 10Kwinner *1997**London Marathon winner*1998**Chicago Marathon winner*1999...		2:24:02
2001	Derartu Tulu Derartu Tulu Derartu Tulu is an Ethiopian long distance track, road and marathon athlete.Derartu , a member of the Oromo ethnic group, grew up tending cattle in the village of Bekoji in the highlands of Arsi Province...		2:25:08
2002	Banuelia Mrashani		2:24:59
2003	Elfenesh Alemu Elfenesh Alemu Elfenesh Alemu is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who specializes in the marathon race. She represented Ethiopia at the Summer Olympics in 2000 and 2004...		2:24:47
2004	Bruna Genovese Bruna Genovese Bruna Genovese is an Italian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon race.-Achievements:Genovese won the Italian under 21 half-marathon championship in 1998...		2:26:34
2005	Naoko Takahashi Naoko Takahashi is a Japanese long-distance runner competing mainly in the marathon. She is widely known for her victory in the women's marathon at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, a performance that stands as the current Olympic record. At the 2001 Berlin Marathon, Takahashi became the first woman to break the 2...		2:24:39
2006	Reiko Tosa Reiko Tosa is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon race.-Achievements:*All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise-Personal bests:*5000 metres - 15:37.08 min *10,000 metres - 32:07.66 min...		2:26:15
2007	Mizuki Noguchi Mizuki Noguchi is a Japanese professional long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon event. She is an Olympic champion over the distance and set two world records in 2005....		2:21:37
2008	Yoshimi Ozaki Yoshimi Ozaki Yoshimi Ozaki is a Japanese long-distance runner, who specializes in the marathon. She won the 2008 Tokyo Women's Marathon in a personal best time of 2:23:30 hours...		2:23:30

External links

• Official Website (English version)
• Tokyo Women's Marathon at arrs.net
• Tokyo Women's Marathon at marathoninfo.free.fr