Running recs in Tokyo area

15 comments

1. Is it true bikes need to be packed in a bag to go on the train? I’ve yet to try this but would prefer to do my cycling out of the city.

2. Bank of Sumida river, there is a 5 km long uninterrupted part (the middle of this near Asakusa station).
   Also bank of Tama river (I ran starting from Futako-Tamagawa)

3. I would also add Edo river, pretty good for cycling

4. I always look for nearby rivers when looking for a place to live, usually a good place to run.

   Just a heads up that I used to do the Imperial Palace run daily when I lived near there, and I developed a lung abscess that had to be treated with antibiotics. I don’t know if there was any relation, but I’m pretty weary now of running regularly at places where there’s a lot of car traffic. It’s something I appreciated about Oslo since most of the cars were electric there, the clean air and quiet streets.

5. Currently I’m usually running three routes, one of which is the Imperial Palace loop.

   Sumida river is nice if you can find a start or end point close to home. Usually I take the metro to Minami-Senju, head to the river, and then run home for about 15km. Metro stations further up the river, or switching to Arakawa instead, make for a longer route.

   For a half marathon distance I do one loop of Imperial Palace, try to find the least busy route through Ginza, past Tsukiji, across the bridges to Odaiba, and then back home across Rainbow Bridge. There are some really nice waterfront routes all over Odaiba. The only downside is getting through traffic lights in Ginza.

6. i’d add lake Sagamiko and Shinrinkouen (saitama forest) to the list, coastal run from Enoshima to Hayama (kamakura area)

7. No such thing as the Fuchu River. It’s the Tamagawa River.

8. Tamako is about 12km loop.

   This is great in summer as it’s mostly under the shade of trees.

   And stick to left side lane as cyclists will be passing you.

9. Along the rivers, the bigger the better.

   The rest are niche, like mountainous or some park in the centre.

10. Toyosu Gururi Park (豊洲ぐるり公園) is amazing day or night. Super wide streets too!

11. You can also take the east bank of Edogawa and run southward. In about 3 km, there’s the Kasai Rinkai Park, and you can add up to 5 km of non-repeating route, parts of which are a narrow dirt trail.

    Edit: I mean Arakawa in Edogawa-ku

12. I live near the Myosho-ji river. Runs basically from takadanobaba to a park in suginami. I’ve used it for up to 30k runs and it connects to the kanda river.

13. I want to add regarding the Imperial palace loop, there are a few stores outside Tokyo Station where you can rent gear (i.e. shoes, but also clothes). I’ve used Asics Run Marunouchi and Marunouchi Bike&Run, although I prefer the latter since the Asics store doesn’t open until noon on weekdays, and they don’t really have larger shoe sizes. For the times I go to Tokyo I usually hop off the Shinkasen, fit in a quick run, and go about my day. Saves me space carrying running shoes.

14. For longer biking there’s lake Kasumigaura, easiest way to start the loop coming from Tokyo is Tsuchiura, about 1 hour by train. The full loop is 130km, taking a bridge shortcut makes it 90km. Pretty flat route and doesn’t get too crowded, many stretches allow car traffic too so that might get a bit annoying but there aren’t many cars going by anyway. There are affordable bike rentals at Tsuchiura station so no need to carry bikes in the train either, though I suppose most people doing over 100km are at a level they’d rather use their own bike.

15. i second Arakawa. i’ve only done a bit along Adachi side though… is Adachi side or Arakawa side better for strolling/jogging for the scenery?