Japan's Spring Race Season Shutting Down (updated)

by Brett Larner

Along with the cancellation of the elite Nagoya International Women's Marathon and National University Men's Half Marathon Championships (Tachikawa Akishima Half Marathon) last weekend and the National Corporate Half Marathon Championships and National University Women's Half Marathon Championships (Matsue Ladies Half Marathon) this coming weekend following the string of disasters to strike northeastern Japan, several major amateur-level races in eastern Japan have also announced they will cancel this spring's editions. One of Japan's largest marathons, the Itabashi City Marathon (known until this year as the Tokyo Arakawa Shimin Marathon) has cancelled its planned Mar. 20 running, along with the Tamako Ekiden the next day. On Mar. 27 the Sakura Asahi Marathon in Chiba Prefecture and the Kumagaya Sakura Half Marathon in Saitama Prefecture have also announced their cancellations. Yet another is Shizuoka's Yaizu Minato Half Marathon, scheduled for Apr. 10.

Seemingly the only bright spot among all the announcements is that organizers of the Mar. 20 Tottori Marathon have decided to go ahead and run to "help give courage and spirit" to Japan's people and to "support and encourage victims of the earthquake and tsunami." The Tokushima Marathon, also on Mar. 20, has postponed this year's race until an unspecified later date.

The Apr. 17 Nagano Marathon, the race mentioned as the likely replacement for Nagoya as the final selection race for the Japanese women's World Championships marathon team, is discussing whether or not to cancel the race, while Japan's second-largest marathon, the Kasumigaura Marathon in hard-hit Ibaraki Prefecture, also on Apr. 17, is virtually certain to cancel. The cancellation of the May 8 Sendai International Half Marathon is likewise highly likely. JRN will try to keep you up to date as events within Japan continue to unfold.

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...

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