Harry Styles stuns with impressive 3-hour running time at Tokyo Marathon

Celebrities running marathons isn’t anything new. In recent years, seriously fit stars like Colin Farrell, Jennifer Connelly, and Ashton Kutcher have all laced up their running shoes and participated in the 26.2-mile challenge. The latest celeb to join the race? Harry Styles, who crossed the finish line at the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, March 2nd. But he didn’t just complete the fantastic feat; he crushed it, leaving running experts scratching their heads. Unlike the other celebs that came before him, Styles ran with almost perfectly even splits and finished with an impressive time. Even the Olympics were wowed.

The “As It Was” singer finished the Tokyo Marathon with a net time of 3 hours, 24 minutes, and seven seconds (3:24:07), coming in 6,010th place out of more than 37,000 registered runners. That’s an average of 7:47 per mile, which is remarkably fast, considering that Styles isn’t a professional runner—and quite frankly, did anyone even know he ran?

Styles has laid low since his 22-month world tourWikiMedia Commons

Based on recent data, most amateur runners finish the Tokyo Marathon in between 4 and 5 hours, with many typically crossing the line at around 4:15:00. To put that into perspective, if we return to the celebrity marathon runners mentioned before, Harry beat them significantly. In 2021, Colin Farrell ran the 2021 Brisbane Marathon in 3:53:14, then later completed the 2024 Dublin Marathon in 4:06:45 (while pushing his friend Emma Fogarty in a wheelchair, no less!) Meanwhile, Jennifer Connelly finished the New York City Marathon in 3:45:47, while Ashton Kutcher came in at 3:54:01 at the 2022 NYC Marathon.

More impressive still, Styles’ performance was marked by extremely consistent split times—1:42:03 for the first half and 1:42:04 for the second half—meaning that he maintained a consistent, steady pace throughout the race, which helped him manage energy efficiently. Even splits are different from negative splits (where the second half is faster) and positive splits (where the first half is faster, then the runner slows down). Some professional runners may use negative splits to finish a race strong, but usually an even split time is praised for being a straightforward strategy that balances effort over time. With just a second between his times from first half of the race and the second, the three-time Grammy winner showed incredible consistency that many experienced marathoners struggle to achieve.

Even experts are impressed.Giphy

The 4-hour mark is widely considered an important threshold for marathon runners, the barrier between those who run to “get through” and those who dream of accomplishing something greater. “The hallmark characteristic of a well-paced race is consistency,” explains Matt Fitzgerald, the author of On Pace: Discover How to Run Every Race at Your Real Limit. “Perfect pacing, in other words, is precise pacing, and precise pacing is difficult—and rare.”

How did he prepare?

To prepare, the 31-year-old former One Direction star trained with former British special forces and professional fighter Thibo David, who ensured he was in shape for Tokyo. David is an absolute beast regarding physical fitness, having trained elite athletes, professional boxers, and professional soccer players. “When I first started training Harry, I wasn’t thinking ‘marathon finisher,’ but peak performance was always the goal,’ David told Running Magazine. “Whether training for a world tour, a film role, or a marathon, the same principles apply: structure, smart recovery, and long-term resilience.”

“Whether training for a world tour, a film role, or a marathon, the same principles apply: structure, smart recovery, and long-term resilience.” Photo by Alora Griffiths on Unsplash

After Styles became People magazine’s sexiest musician alive in 2024, fitness writer Harry Bullmore uncovered the secrets of Styles’ high-intensity workout routine, detailed below. (It’s important to note that Styles doesn’t complete this workout every day. According to David, in addition to high-intensity workouts, Harry also mixes in running, swimming, weight training, and mobility work to achieve optimum results. He also rotates recovery sessions in, which can include ice baths, massages, and stretching.)

 
1. To warm up, Harry jogs at a slow pace, usually between 10 to 30 minutes.
 
2. Then, he explodes into a one-mile run, completed as quick as possible. According to David, Styles can run a mile in an impressive 5 minutes and 13 seconds.
 
3. It's a body weight challenge time. Style must complete 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 unweighted squats within eight minutes. Even for professional fitness writer Bullmore, this was tough. “My thighs were on fire by the final rep,” he writes.
 
4. Style then jumps into a free-weights circuit, which he completes four times. They consist of one minute of kettlebell swings, one minute of box jumps, two minutes of sandbag over-the-shoulder tosses, and two minutes of alternating dumbbell clean and presses. Rest for one minute in between.
 
5. Then, it’s on to hill sprints. Style completes eight rounds of 30-45-second sprints, run on a treadmill set on a .5-2.5% incline. Mind you, this is after he’s already completed a 30-minute jog and a one-mile sprint. “By the eighth round, I felt like death,” writes Bullmore. “My springs turned to slogs, and the time it took me to complete the distance I established in the first interval grew longer.
 
6. To strengthen the mid-body muscles, Styles then goes into a 15-minute workout of “diverse core exercises, including planks, one-sided farmer’s walks, side planks, and sit-up variations.”
 
7. Finally, it’s time to stretch. After approximately two hours of working out, David stretches Styles for 10-15 minutes.

Could you complete Harry Styles' workout routine? Free Malaysia Today

As a high-energy, physical performer who completed a grueling 22-month “Love on Tour” with 169 performances worldwide, it’s no surprise that Styles’ fitness routine is appropriately intense. But training for stage performances doesn’t always translate to other physical feats, like running marathons, making Styles’ accomplishment all the more impressive.

Fans react

Despite a high-profile career, the singer is low-key about his personal life and did not publicize his participation in this event. However, all it took was a few eagle-eyed Directioners to take note of his presence before videos began to spread on social media. “That’s a great run, especially if it’s his first marathon!” commented @adhirkalyan on one of the many Instagram posts about Harry's latest adventure. On the same post, @mydesigntutor added, “That was a cracking run! I did it too and it was HARD in the heat.”

Over on TikTok, @Milaoller shared her perspective of the marathon and the moment Styles rounded the corner.

Whether the 2025 Tokyo Marathon signals a new chapter in Styles’ life or simply just another very impressive notch in the pop singer and actor’s career, one thing is clear: Harry Styles doesn’t just have stamina and power on stage, but on the pavement as well.