Skip to main content

37-Year-Old Mother of Three Sakamoto Becomes First-Ever Japanese Winner of Osaka Marathon

by Brett Larner

One of the ten biggest marathons in the world, the Osaka Marathon celebrated its first-ever Japanese winner this year.


The Osaka women's race was a one-woman show the whole way.  Amateur runner Yoshiko Sakamoto (Y.W.C.) a 37-year-old mother of three and former high school star who took up marathons at age 32 after not running for more than 10 years, went it alone from the gun.  35 seconds ahead of #1-ranked Nurit Yimam (Ethiopia) at 5 km, Sakamoto fearlessly pushed her pace under 2:30 by 15 km and stretched her lead to almost four minutes as Yimam and top club runner Yumiko Kinoshita (SWAC) held steady to 2:35~36 pace.  With a best of 2:36:29 Sakamoto was bound to pay for it, and after halfway she began to slow.  "After 33 km it felt like my right hamstring was going to cramp up," she told JRN after the race.  By 40 km she was barely clearing 4:00/km.

Behind her Yimam had dropped out, but Kinoshita was closing.  Kinoshita covered the 5 km from 35 to 40 km over a minute faster than Sakamoto, but with enough of a lead and the self-control to push it again after 40 km Sakamoto held on. "Right until the end I was trying to win, so I never gave up," she told JRN.   "I just kept pushing forward and forward."  Sakamoto crossed the finish line in 2:36:02, a new PB that made her the first Japanese runner male or female to win the Osaka Marathon. After a 2016 that saw her sit out January's Osaka International Women's Marathon when her children caught the flu, sit out February's Tokyo Marathon when she caught it from them,  DNF in freezing rain at April's Zurich Marathon, then rally with a 4th place finish at June's Jilin Marathon and 2nd at September's Muenster Marathon with support from JRN, her win was a perfect cap to Sakamoto's year.


2015 Osaka men's winner Daniel Kosgei (Kenya) led a sizable men7s lead pack through 5 km in a leisurely 16:03, mid-2:15 pace, before picking it up toward 2:12 territory.  Kosgei stayed in front at that pace through halfway before 2012 Osaka winner Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Team NTN) went to the front.  Bat-Ochir kept control for over 10 km, the pack dwindling even as the pace slowed until Tokyo-based Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Monteroza) took over.

With a sub-2:10 best in Tokyo last year ranking him alongside Bat-Ochir as the favorite for the win Ngandu turned it on, dropping first Bat-Ochir, then last year's runner-up Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), and finally 2:12 man Hiroki Yamagishi (GMO Athletes) to score his first career marathon win in 2:12:47.  A graduate of Nihon University, Ngandu's sponsor Monteroza recently announced that it will disband its athletics team in the spring.  Breaking Osaka's 2:11:43 course record would have gone a long way to helping Ngandu stay in Japan, leading him to show obvious disappointment as he crossed the finish line.  "Next year there won't be a Monteroza," Ngandu said post-race.  "Please keep cheering for me and supporting me!"

6th Osaka Marathon
Osaka, 10/30/16
official results coming shortly

Men
1. Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Monteroza) - 2:12:47
2. Hiroki Yamagishi (GMO Athletes) - 2:12:59
3. Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:13:35
4. Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/NTN) - 2:13:43
5. Sora Tsukada (SGH Group) - 2:15:16 - PB
6. Yasuyuki Nakamura (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:15:32
7. Koshi Watanabe (Subaru) - 2:15:36 - PB
8. Sho Matsumoto (Nikkei Business Service) - 2:15:50
9. Yosuke Chida (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 2:17:05 - PB
10. Brandon Mull (U.S.A.) - 2:18:14
-----
18. Daniel Kosgei (Kenya) - 2:27:57

Women
1. Yoshiko Sakamoto (Yokkaichi Wellness Club) - 2:36:02 - PB
2. Yumiko Kinoshita (SWAC) - 2:37:03
3. Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) - 2:38:00
4. Mitsuko Iino (Running Team R2) - 2:44:00
5. Mayumi Uchiyama (Nitori) - 2:45:06
6. Shiho Satonaka (Running Team R2) - 2:47:22 - PB
7. Tomomi Matsuoka (Run Friends) - 2:47:29
8. Tomoko Horioka (Osaka Nittai Univ.) - 2:49:06 - PB
9. Mina Ogawa (Puma RC) - 2:49:32
10. Ai Ogo (Himeji T&F Assoc.) - 2:50:09
-----
DNF - Nurit Yimam (Ethiopia)

© 2016 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Keita Sato Joins Swoosh TC

After appearing at a Nike event on Apr. 3, U20 1500 m NR and indoor 3000 m and 5000 m NR holder Keita Sato , 22, updated his Instagram profile to announce that he is joining Nike's Swoosh TC . At the Nike event Sato said that he plans to run the 1500 m at the Apr. 11 Kanaguri Memorial Meet, then will move to the U.S. "To be successful at the global level I need to train and grow alongside world-class athletes," he said. "I have to take every day seriously in order to achieve that dream of being internationally competitive." Swoosh TC was founded last year. Its coach Mike Smith has guided many athletes to international championships, including prior to Swoosh TC's launch, with some earning medals and podium finishes under his leadership. photo © 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved source article: https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/204241/2 translated by Brett Larner
Post a Comment
Read more

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...
2 comments
Read more