Weekend Road Racing Roundup

Another busy weekend in Japan as its road races and marathons continue to return from pandemic-era hiatuses, with two 30 km races, four big marathons, and a post-season university ekiden.

In Kumamoto, Yuki Sato (SGH), 36, put in a hard last 5 km to pull away from the massive leading pack and win the Kumanichi 30 km in 1:30:57, the oldest athlete to win Kumanichi to date. Kira Migita (Toyota Kyushu) was 2nd in 1:31:13, just beating Sato's teammate Kazuto Kawabata (SGH) by 1 second. Rui Nishida (Higo Ginko) won the women's race by over 2 minutes in 1:46:58. Sato, who ran a 1:00:35 PB at last weekend's National Corporate Half Marathon, said post-race that he'd done a 30 km training run on Thursday and that Kumanichi had been only a workout effort.

In western Tokyo, 2018 Ome 30 km Road Race men's winner Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Danryoku), 38, led almost start to finish in pursuit of a second win on the hilly Ome course, but in the home straight he fell victim to a harder last kick from Ryota Natori (Konica Minolta). Natori, a former teammate of Kumanichi 3rd-place Kawabata, got the win in 1:31:57 with Okamoto just 4 seconds back. Naoto Hashimoto (Otsuka Seiyaku) was a distant 3rd in 1:32:29.

In a tuneup for next month's Nagoya Women's Marathon, Saki Tokoro (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) ran in a trio with Yuki Nakamura (Panasonic) and Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) over the first half of the race before pulling away to win in 1:44:48. Yamaguchi initially followed when Tokoro surged, but over the last 5 km Nakamura ran her down to take 2nd in 1:46:47 to Yamaguchi's 1:47:45. Nakamura's teammate Sora Shinozakura (Panasonic) won the 10 km in 33:53, with Hayato Oguma (Tokyo Jitsugyo H.S.) taking the men's 10 km in 30:30.

Held alongside Kumanichi, the Kumamoto Castle Marathon saw a close men's race with Hiroaki Furukawa (Tokyo Univ.) beating Jo Fukuda (NN) by 3 seconds, 2:18:51 to 2:18:54, to win for the 3rd time. Defending women's champ Michiru Kato took a second-straight win in 2:48:57, winning by nearly 5 minutes. With 9,707 finishers Kumamoto Castle was the biggest of the weekend's four marathons.

Next-biggest with 9,011 finishers was the Kitakyushu Marathon in Fukuoka, which saw an even closer men's race. Yuji Shibukawa started several rows behind Shuji Tsukamoto but outran him for the win 2:21:25 to 2:21:26. Manaka Yamashita (Canon) won the women's race in 2:48:26, with amateur Chika Tawara 2nd in 2:49:55.

The Kyoto Marathon saw almost identical winning times in the women's race, with Mikiko Ota taking the top spot in 2:48:57 and 2nd-placer Fuka Hirokawa running 2:49:39. Yudai Fukuda won the men's race by over 2 minutes in 2:19:39.

Kochi Ryoma Marathon winner Shumpei Oda almost tied Fukuda's winning time in Kyoto, running 2:19:40. Amateur Takemaru Yamazaki was 2nd in 2:20:44, with 2022 100 km World Championships silver medalist Jumpei Yamaguchi (Eldoreso) running 2:24:00 for 3rd in a training run effort for next month's Tokyo Marathon. Hisayo Kakinuma took the women's title in 2:56:58. A total of 6,621 people finished in Kochi.

Japan didn't field a mixed-gender relay team for Saturday's World Cross Country Championships, but in Osaka the National University Mixed-Gender Ekiden, a 20 km race divided into 6 legs with men and women alternating on stages from 2 to 5 km in length, saw a new course record in its 3rd edition. Juntendo University took the lead from Nittai University on the men's 5.0 km 3rd leg and held on until the women's 5.0 km anchor stage. But when Nittai anchor Yuiri Ogata and 3 other women ran stage record-breaking times Juntendo fell to 4th.

Nittai took the win in a CR 1:00:50, with anchors Miku Isono and Hikaru Hamano putting both Kansai University and Chuo University under the old CR in 1:01:12 for 2nd and 1:01:17 for 3rd. Juntendo anchor Mizuki Kakiuchi just managed to hold off Josai University's Koharu Kaneko, both teams clocking 1:01:35 but Juntendo getting 4th.

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...

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Tokai University Installs 325-LED Electronic Pacing Light System at Home Track

On Apr. 14 the Tokai University track and field team and Faculty of Engineering announced that in March they had installed an electronic pacing system at the university's home track at its Shonan campus. The pacing system involved LED lights placed around the edge of the track, which light up sequentially based on the set pace. It is the first time in Japan that this kind of system developed by a domestic manufacturer has been permanently installed at a track. LED pacing systems are used internationally at Diamond League meets and high-level time trial races. Domestically they have been introduced at events like the National Championships 10000 m, Hokuren Distance Challenge and Hachioji Long Distance meets. They have become popular with fans for adding color to the visual presentation of the race and for making it easier to follow the pace of the race. Tokai University began plans to develop and permanently install an electronic pacing system two years ago. The system was develope...

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