The Tokyo marathon had major roads cleared for up to seven hours to ensure the safety of the runners, who won the rights to enter the event from about 95,000 people who had applied for tickets to take part.

More than 10,000 volunteers assisted with the event on its new downtown course, which Tokyo hopes to showcase next year as the capital bids for the 2016 summer Olympic Games.

‘I think it was a success. I am glad we did it,’ said Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara.

‘I hope to make it more wonderful and a new tradition of Tokyo,’  he said.

The Tokyo metropolitan government hopes the event will grow in prestige to rival marathon events in major cities like New York and Berlin.

The Tokyo marathon originated in 1981, and was run till last year on a different route.

This year organisers, including the Tokyo metropolitan government, changed the eligibility criteria, opening it to the general public, and gave the course a makeover past Tokyo’s best sights, with an eye on the 2016 Olympic Games.

The course started at the Tokyo metropolitan government building, in Shinjuku business area, and wound its way past some of the city’s major tourist sites.

Runners raced alongside the moat of the Imperial Palace, between upscale fashion boutiques and department stores in the Ginza shopping area, and by temples and old buildings of the Asakusa historical district before finishing at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre, near Tokyo bay.

Previously, only men competed in the event, but this year women also took part, including Barcelona and Atlanta Olympic medalist Yuko Arimori, who chose the event to finish her marathon career.

And along with able-bodied runners and joggers, many physically challenged sports fans took to wheelchairs for the event. Visually impaired runners andorgan transplant recipients also participated.

About 5,000 police and 1,600 paramedics and rescue workers were on standby, but police said there were no major incidents, with only a handful of runners receiving treatment for minor leg injuries.

Conditions were less than perfect, though, with windy rain and temperatures hovering around five degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit).

‘It would be better to have it in a better season,’ Ishihara said. ‘But that’s difficult because other city marathons are scheduled back-to-back.’

Japanese-based Kenyan runner Daniel Njenga finished first in two hours, nine minutes and 45 seconds.

Japan’s Tomoyuki Sato came in second in 2:11:22, but failed to make the 2:09:30 cut needed to qualify for the world championships at Osaka in August.

His compatriot, Satoshi Irifune, who was fourth in the Doha Asian Games in December, finished third in 2:12:44, while Athens Olympic bronze medalist Vanderlei De Lima finished sixth in 2:16:08.