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.

Ichiyama 8th at Copenhagen Marathon

Currently the #10-ranked Japanese man in the marathon with the fastest-ever domestic time at the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) made his international debut at Sunday's Copenhagen Marathon , literally an international debut as it was his first time outside the country. Ichiyama hoped to be in contention to break the 2:08:23 CR and go for the win, and with cool and breezy conditions ran easy in the lead group through 30 km. But something ate away at almost everyone as time went by, several people in the lead men's and women's groups saying humidity, and past 30 km Ichiyama fell off. Falling as low as 9th, he rallied after 40 km to finish 8th in 2:13:07. "It was different than in Japanese races," he said. "I'm used to bigger packs and more even pacing, but this was a kind of racing I hadn't done before. There's a lot to think about. I didn't feel like I was sweating a lot, but I got really thirsty and started sk

Wanjiru Breaks Own MR, Fuwa and Ishida Return - Kanto Regionals Day 1 Highlights

Japan's best college meet kicked off Thursday at Tokyo's National Stadium at the 103rd Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships . Looking like she was doing a controlled tempo run, 2nd-yr Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) lapped the entire field to win the women's 10000 m in a meet record 32:02.87, almost 15 seconds under the record she last year in her debut. 3rd-yr Aoi Takahashi (Josai Univ.) was 2nd in 33:29.22 and 2nd-yr Nana Nagashima (Josai Kokusai Univ.) 3rd in a PB 33:30.28, but the other main news alongside Wanjiru's new record was the return of collegiate 10000 m record holder Seira Fuwa (Takushoku Univ.) in her first 10000 m in 19 months. Fuwa hung at the back of the chase pack for the first half, made a move to lead it in the second half, and ultimately faded to 9th in 33:40.20. Every comeback has to start somewhere. The D1 men's 10000 m had a tight group up front with the top 6 all finishing within 6 seconds and under 28:10. 3rd-yr Jam

Two-Time Olympic Marathon Medalist Erick Wainaina Referred to Prosectors on Suspicion of Assault

According to investigators, two-time Olympic marathon medalist Erick Wainaina has had his case referred to prosecutors after allegedly injuring a railway employee by striking him in the face at a station in Setagaya, Tokyo. Wainaina, 50, was the bronze medalist in the marathon at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and won silver in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Wainaina is suspected of assaulting a woman in her late teens and a male Tokyo Denentoshi Line employee by hitting them in the face during an altercation at Komazawa University Station in March this year, resulting in minor injuries to the man's face. According to investigators, the incident began on the train between Wainaina and the woman, and after getting off at Komazawa University Station he hit her in the face when she asked him to go to the station office with her to report it. When the male railway employee responded to the situation Wainaina reportedly hit him too. In response to questioning Wainaina is said to have answered,

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