Weekend Road Race Roundup

It was another busy weekend with marathons in Osaka, Ibaraki and Chiba, a half marathon in Osaka, and post-season ekidens across the country. The Osaka International Women's Marathon was the major one of the bunch, if not an especially memorable race.

On a new course that saw the addition of at least two hills and the start and finish point downgraded from the spectacular Yanmar Stadium Nagai to its exterior warmup track, it was basically a race of attrition that saw people fall off the sub-2:20 pace set by the pacers until only three athletes, Ethiopians Haven Hailu Desse and Meseret Gola Sisay and top-ranked Japanese woman Yuka Ando (Wacoal) were left. Desse surged the hardest at 30 km, running on unchallenged from there to win in 2:21:13. Sisay was next in 2:22:12, with Ando 3rd in 2:22:59.

More memorable were two mid-race incidents. Just past 5 km, Reia Iwade (Denso) clipped Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku) from behind and both went down. Sato got the worst of it, bloody in both knees as she tried to get going again, but both women eventually dropped out. Another incident happened after 30 km, when a TV camera motorcycle way too close to the 2nd group of women bumped collegiate record holder Sairi Maeda (Daihatsu), who stumbled but managed not to go down.

Ando, Iwade, Sato and 4th-placer Mao Uesugi (Starts) were all already qualified for October's MGC Race Olympic marathon trials, but for Maeda and the others in the chase pack spots at the trials were on the line. In the end four women qualified, 5th-placer Yumi Yoshikawa (Uniqlo) with a 2:25:20 debut, Maeda with a 2:25:24 for 6th, 7th-placer Chiharu Ikeda (Hitachi) in 2:25:59, and Yuna Daito (Tenmaya) with a 10-minute PB of 2:26:09 for 8th. Kaena Takeyama (Senko) and Honoka Tanaike (Otsuka Seiyaku) rounded out the top 10 in 2:29:20 and 2:29:45, short of what they needed for trials qualification. Complete results and splits here.

Alongside the marathon, the Osaka Half Marathon also happened Sunday. In the women's race, Rinka Hida (Ritsumeikan Univ.) ran down early leaders Shuri Ogasawara (Denso) and Hina Yanagitani (Wacoal) in the last 5 km to take the win by 1 second in 1:10:10. Yanagitani was next in 1:10:11 with Ogasawara hanging on to 3rd in 1:10:36. Complete women's results here.

In the men's race, a lead group of 16 was together through 15 km before eventual top 2 Yohei Ikeda (Kao) and Shunya Kikuchi (Chugoku Danryoku) broke free. Ikeda got the win in the last km in 1:01:29, Kikuchi 4 seconds back in 2nd. 7 seconds separated the next 3, with Hayato Mera (Mitsubishi Juko) outkicking 5 people in the last km including Sweden's David Nilsson to take the last spot on the 8-deep podium in 1:01:59. Complete men's results here.

In Ibaraki, the Katsuta Marathon celebrated its 70th anniversary with its first in-person race since 2020. Ikeda's teammate Yukari Ishizawa from the local Hitachi corporate team won the women's race in 2:39:57 in her debut, her first road race longer than 5 km since 2017. Amateur Shusei Ohashi (Kodaira City Hall) won the men's race in 2:18:10. Katsuta has traditionally sent its top placers to run April's Boston Marathon, so expect to see them added to the field if the program is still in place post-pandemic.

In Chiba the Tateyama Wakashio Marathon was also back for its 43rd edition. Corporate leaguer Miharu Shimokado (SID Group) took the women's race in a decent 2:42:50, with amateur Suguru Sato winning the men's race in 2:27:55.

At the 12th Okayama Ekiden, 9th-grader Sherry Drury followed up her incredible run at the National Women's Ekiden two weeks ago with a 9:40 CR for the 3.0 km 3rd leg, 10 seconds under the old CR. Drury faced intense media attention, including national TV, throughout the weekend, which, given her age, would be another argument for her to opt for competing in and for Canada. Whatever it takes to keep her from ending up at local corporate team Tenmaya.

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges. Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

My Training for 1:00:44

Hi, I'm Ayumu Kobayashi . Today I'm going to write about this year's National Corporate Half Marathon and the training I did for it. I hope other runners will find it even a little bit helpful. At the Corporate Half on Feb. 13 I was 10th in 1:00:44. My goal had been to run 61 minutes, so I hit that target. My Training Menu In January I ran a total of 681 km. Key workouts: Jan. 11: 1000 m x 5 at 2:50/km Jan. 12: 22.5 km Jan. 15: 9 km variable pace Jan. 17: 25 km Jan. 24: 1000 m x 8 at 2:52/km Jan. 27: 1 km + 4 km + 2 km Jan. 30: 16 km at 3:18/km avg. In January I was tired from the New Year Ekiden and had some knee pain after it, so I just jogged for 10 days until I started doing workouts again on the 11th. That's why I only ran 681 km for the month. But even on the jog days I was aware that I had the Corporate Half coming up, so I was doing around 30 km. It's pretty meat and potatoes, but I think it was really important. February (training for the 10 days before...

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