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This year, 2017, was a special one for the Tokyo Marathon in that it is the 10th year since the event began, in 2010.

This year's Tokyo Marathon followed a slightly different course from previous years' in that it didn't skirt the Imperial Palace Tokyo as closely, following the stretch of Yasukuni-dori Avenue north of the Palace instead, and, while going as far south-east as Koto-ku as in previous years, it went only as far as Monzennakacho, instead of all the way down to Tokyo Big Sight.

Bystanders watch the Tokyo Marathon 2017 in Yanagibashi, Taito-ku, Tokyo
As in previous years, the Tokyo Marathon went through Tokyo's "doll town" of Asakusabashi. It was already late morning yesterday when I got down to Edo-dori Avenue, which runs north-south through the district, and - as the caretaker of our building laughingly warned this late-bird on my way out - the main body of serious runners had already gone through long before. Picking up a cup of Pocari Sweat at the Tokyo Marathon 2017, Asakusabashi, Tokyo
Yet, life isn't supposed to be all serious, and there was no shortage of runners participating as much to show off their nutty costumes as their athletic prowess. Participants in the Tokyo Marathon are prohibited from carrying bottles, so the course was lined with stalls giving out free Pocari Sweat, a Japanese beverage from way back that has long associated itself with sport.
Tokyo Marathon 2017, with a Chuo-Sobu Line train overhead pulling into...