With the opening ceremony, which took place at 10:45AM on Thursday February 23, the Tokyo Marathon　2017 Expo officially opened its door to the runners and guests of the Tokyo Marathon 2017 at 11:00AM. This year's Tokyo Marathon is scheduled to start on Sunday morning February 26 with the "Start Ceremony" at 8:54AM. The wheelchair athletes will start the race at 9:05AM and then five minutes later, the runners will start their journey through the streets of Tokyo.

The opening ceremony started with traditional Japanese drums followed by the opening address by Koji Sakurai, the President/CEO of the Tokyo Marathon Foundation, the organizer for the Tokyo Marathon. In the opening address, Mr. Sakurai said, "for the 11^th edition of the race in 2017, the course has been renewed and finish line has been moved. The new course is flatter compared to the previous years and thus new records are expected. The runners from abroad started to arrive last night, and the time close to the world record is anticipated. The number of booths in the Expo has increased to all-time high of 137 (from 123 in 2016)."

After the opening address by Sakurai, a vail opening ceremony was conducted by Koji Sakurai, Yoshimitsu Oku, president of Tokyo Metro, former Yomiuri Giants baseball player Takahiro Suzuki, who'll be running the race, M Takashi, charity ambassador, and Yu Nakamura, celebrity volunteer.

The runners` check-in officially started at 11AM at the Tokyo Big Sight, and will continue till Saturday 7:30PM. The Expo also runs through Saturday and public are encourage to attend.
Many of the booths in the Expo not only exhibits running related goods, but also sell them at site. The booths from other mass marathons are also inviting the runner to attend their events.

Asics`s "Foot ID," which includes both "Static Foot ID" as well as "Dynamic Foot ID" is back again this year. The "Static Foot ID" utilizes 3D foot measuring equipment to measure not only the foot print (two dimensions), but also the third dimension of the runner's feet, while "Dynamic Food ID" will measure foot landing as well as degree of pronation while running on the treadmill. These technologies will help runners to select the right shoes for them. The new technology introduced this year at the Asics booth is "Custom Apparel Service," which recommends customized apparel to match the runners` body size and preferences using 3D body measurement and analysis.