Skip to main content

Yoshihisa Hosaka Gets World Record #3 at Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon (updated)

by Brett Larner

photo (c) 2009 Mika Tokairin

A year after his 60+ world record of 2:36:30 at the 2009 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Yoshihisa Hosaka did it again with a 2:38:12 world record for the 61 year old bracket at this year's Beppu-Oita on Feb. 7. Hosaka's time breaks the existing world record, set by Wil van der Lee of the Netherlands at the 1991 Amsterdam Marathon, by a slim 20 second margin. Hosaka now holds the world record for three consecutive age brackets.

59 - 2:34:23, Fukuoka 2008
60 - 2:36:30, Beppu-Oita 2009
61 - 2:38:12, Beppu-Oita 2010

In this year's race Hosaka started conservatively compared to his previous two world record runs, clocking consistent mid-37 minute 10 km splits through 30 km and hitting halfway in 1:18:26. By comparison, at this past December's 2009 Fukuoka International Marathon, a few weeks before his 61st birthday, Hosaka went through halfway in 1:15:48. In Beppu-Oita he slowed significantly between 30 and 35 km but managed to rally and claim the record with a 1:19:46 second half. "I ran as hard as I could to get this world record and I'm very happy with it," Hosaka told JRN. He will next run the Tokyo Marathon on Feb. 28.


Yoshihisa Hosaka sets the 60+ world record of 2:36:30 at the 2009 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. Photo courtesy of Yoshihisa Hosaka.

Update: A summary of Hosaka's last few marathons:

2:38:12 - Beppu-Oita 2/7/10 (age 61)
2:40:39 - Fukuoka, 12/6/09 (age 60)
2:41:15 - Hokkaido, 8/30/09 (age 60)
2:39:33 - L.A., 5/25/09 (age 60)
2:40:16 - Nagano, 4/19/09 (age 60)
2:36:30 - Beppu-Oita, 2/1/09 (age 60)
2:34:23 - Fukuoka, 12/7/08 (age 59)

There are probably a few more in there that I don't know about.

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Jon in Tokyo said…
Amazing.
Something for all Nambanners to aim at in the future.
February 8, 2010 at 8:50 AM
Samurai Running said…
Yes Jon,

All runners now have something to think about. And thanks Brett for your continued promotion of Mr. Hosaka. He really is an inspiration. And a nice guy to boot, I've heard from Bob, et al.
February 8, 2010 at 9:15 AM
Matt said…
Great performance. It is amazing the stress load the human body can handle at older ages. I look forward to seeing Yoshihisa run more records in the future.
February 9, 2010 at 2:20 AM
Michael Quispe said…
I passed him in Boston this year and immediately wondered if it was him. Checked the results and sure enough, there he was. Amazing guy!
April 27, 2010 at 1:25 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Saku Chosei H.S. Makes It 2 In a Row - National High School Ekiden Boys' Race

While the girls' race was a blowout by 2022 champ Nagano Higashi H.S. , the boys' race at Sunday's National High School Ekiden was a tense battle of turnover that saw all of the final top four teams take a stab at leading. 2023 3rd-placer Yachiyo Shoin H.S. handled the first 2 of the 7 stages in the 42.195 km race, with lead runner Rui Suzuki delivering a bold run on the 10.0 km First Stage that produced the fastest-ever time by a Japanese runner on the stage, 28:43, and put Yachiyo Shoin 29 seconds out front. Last year's Fifth Stage CR breaker Tetsu Suzuki ran Yachiyo Shoin down to put 2023 champ Saku Chosei H.S. into 1st on the 8.1075 km Third Stage, but Genta Sugano of last year's 8th-placer Sendai Ikuei H.S. had other plans and took the lead on the 8.0875 km Fourth Stage. Smiling and fist pumping to the crowd almost the entire way, Taketo Tsukada of last year's 6th-placer Omuta H.S. moved up from 3rd to 1st by 2 seconds over Saku Chosei on the 3.0 k...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nagano Higashi Girls Lead Start to Finish to Win National High School Ekiden

2022 National High School Ekiden girls' champion Nagano Higashi H.S. was back in force after a 5th-place finish last year, leading start to finish to win this year's national title Sunday in Kyoto. Lead runner Airi Mashiba kicked it off with a 19:30 stage win on the 6.0 km opening leg, something that head coach Fumio Yokouchi said later that he hadn't been expecting. That ended up being Nagano Higashi's only individual stage win in the 5-leg, 21.0975 km race, but the rest of its team ran well enough to hold a lead that was never less than 11 seconds but never more than 21. Last year's 4th-placer Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. spent most of the race in 2nd, but over the second half of the race Sendai Ikuei H.S. , 2nd last year by just 1 second, came from further back to run Kunei down on the anchor stage thanks in big part to a critical stage win on the 4th leg by Tsubomi Tezuka that put anchor Aoi Hosokawa in position to catch Kunei's Mizuki Oda . Nagano Higashi ...
1 comment
Read more

Japan Post Holds Off Sekisui Kagaku to Win Queens Ekiden National Title

  Japan Post  was back on top at the Queens Ekiden corporate women's national championships Sunday in Sendai, holding off last year's winner Sekisui Kagaku  over the second half of a race that came as close as 1 second to take 1st with a final margin of victory of 27 seconds. Sekisui Kagaku was out fast with a win on the 7.0 km opening leg by Erika Tanoura  and a new CR for the 12:56 second leg by Yuma Yamamoto , 17 seconds better than her own CR from last year. Last year's 4th-placer Shiseido  briefly led on the 10.6 km third leg with an excellent 33:17 stage win from Rino Goshima , but behind her Japan Post's Ririka Hironaka  returned from her latest injury problems to pass Sekisui Kagaku's Sayaka Sato  and hand off 6 seconds ahead. New recruit Caroline Kariba  ran Shiseido down on the 3.6 km fourth leg and put Japan Post 22 seconds ahead of Sekisui Kagaku, but a duel of marathoners between JP's  Ayuko Suzuki  and Sekisui's Hitomi Niiy...
1 comment
Read more