2025 Winner Interview｜Mr. Subroto Bhattacharya

How did you feel when you found out you were selected?

In 2025, I attempted the Tokyo Marathon, running in memory of a Japanese patient of my medical practice in Massachusetts, USA, who had passed from esophageal cancer. However, fate had it that day for me that I was to fail. At the third cutoff point, I could not make the time and was pulled from the race!
Disappointed, I went to Hiroshima to say my prayers, as my father was a WWII veteran. It was that day that I received the email from the Tokyo Marathon Foundation, asking for submissions for the 2026 race. I applied, never for a moment thinking that I would be chosen! On the 7th of April, I got an email to say that I was selected! I remember feeling an immense sense of gratitude and joy to be given another chance to fulfil my promise to my patient! I immediately replied that I would be honored to run!

How did you prepare for Tokyo Marathon 2026, and what were your thoughts going into the race?



On top of the privilege of being given a chance to run the Tokyo Marathon 2026, my daughter who is 28, told me that she too would run with me to encourage and keep me company! My daughter had never run a marathon before! She applied to Plan International charity and got a spot. Both of us started a marathon training plan, each one supporting and encouraging the other. On November 9, she ran her first EVER race with me, the Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon! Then we began our winter training to get ready for Tokyo. I am eternally grateful for her support and encouragement in my preparation. She made sure that I would be successful in the race!

What was the most memorable moment for you on race day?


Surprisingly, the main emotion I felt at the starting line in corral K was a sense of peace and quiet! Something told me that I was going to have a great race. This would also be my final Six Star race but somehow that was never at the forefront of my mind. At the start, I said a prayer to my patient in whose honor I was running and asked for his guidance and care over the 42 kilometers! And I said a prayer to my angel, Nena Magararu, who was the dearest of friends and my work colleague that we had lost to pancreatic cancer in 2015.


Was there any particular moment or encounter during the 42.195km that moved you?

Three incidents stand out clearly in my memory. At mile thirteen I came upon a runner who was down! The medical team had barricaded off the area and the medivac helicopter was hovering above! Being a physician the first instinct is to help but I realized that the team was a professional team and I would be more of a hindrance than a help. However, for the rest of the race I could not help but worry about what became of the runner. Luckily, at the end of the race I found that there were no fatalities and that was a HUGE sense of relief.

The second incident happened close to the final cutoff at 38 kilometers! My daughter, who was about 30 minutes faster than me, spotted me on her return leg of the final switchback and screamed out at me! At first I did not notice and then I saw her! “You are on the home stretch Dad! You got this!!” she shouted. I could not believe that this girl who was running her first marathon and first Abbott World Marathon Major, was MORE worried about her father than she was about her own race!! We both finished well and met up with my wife and son for a celebration.

The final incident happened at 42 kilometers! I was on the home straight and just two hundred meters from the finish when I caught up to this woman who was also a Six Star Finisher. I wished her well when she noticed my Boston Red Sox hat and shouted “Are you from Boston?” I replied yes and she asked where I was from. “Swampscott” I said. “Oh my God! My mother grew up in Swampscott!” she replied. I could not but burst out laughing!! Here I was, having traveled halfway across the world to run forty-two kilometers on the streets of Tokyo only to find another American who was not just from Massachusetts but from the town where I have now lived for twenty-six years!! She is a childhood cancer survivor. Hand in hand, we crossed the finish line in the most memorable finish for both of us! I have NEVER had such an experience in ANY race before!

Is there a person or moment from Tokyo Marathon 2026 that left a strong impression on you?

There was not just one person! ALL of Tokyo and Japan left the most positive impression on me and my family! The generosity, the welcome and the care that Japan showed to all of the runners was just unbelievable. And for me, the most memorable moment came in Boston on my return, when I could give my patient’s wife, the race vest and bib and the medal to keep in honor and memory of her husband Masaharu Mabuchi. Megume Mabuchi has gone to Japan this week to meet his family and give them the bib which has his name on it and the medal so that they can keep it as a remembrance.

How has this experience changed you?

Running has grounded me. The young woman, Lauren, who finished the race with me told me, “Congratulations on conquering Tokyo and getting your six stars!” I smiled but did not say anything for I knew that I had conquered nothing! The streets of Tokyo and my patient’s family had given me the honor and the privilege to run and I was able to keep my word and my promise. The run is not for the medal. That is only a piece of metal. But when you can keep your word and experience the race, it changes not just what that piece of metal is but also how you look at the world! We are all on a journey to our eternal home. We are not in competition but we are there to support each other. And that is why the motto of the Tokyo Marathon, “The Day We Unite.” means so much to me!

Now that you have finished, what does the Tokyo Marathon mean to you?

Tokyo has been a promise fulfilled, the final step in a journey of achievement and the privilege to carry the memory of a citizen of Japan in his own homeland after his earthly days were done. Truly, one of the most amazing race experiences that I have ever had!

How would you describe your experience in one sentence?

Tokyo taught me that when you look inside of you, you see how small you really are, but when you look outside of you, you see how vast you can be! It is a journey of discovery of your own self!

Tokyo Marathon 2025 Interview Relay – Mr. Subroto Bhattacharya’s story here