Past Champs Win Again in Fukuoka and Hofu, Yang Breaks Chinese Men's NR, Tsutsui Break Hofu Women's CR

photo by Eldoreso, used with permission

Japan's last two big marathons of the year both happened Sunday at the Fukuoka International Marathon and Hofu Yomiuri Marathon. Both came down to sprint finishes between a lead pack of four, and both saw past championships back on the top spot on the podium.

Fukuoka only lasted through 15 km on the target pace for Japanese favorite Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima) to hit the 2:05:50 he needed to replace Suguru Osako (GMO) on the Paris Olympic team. Past 15 it slowed, with a halfway split of 1:03:00 that the lead group held until 30 km. At that point it was a lead group of six, with Hosoya, 2021 Fukuoka winner Michael Githae (Suzuki), 2017 Fukuoka winner Sondre Nordstad Moen (Norway), Chinese duo Shaohui Yang and Peiyou Feng, and two-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist Abel Kirui (Kenya).

The pace slowed between 30 and 35 km once the pacers stopped, but even so Feng and Kirui lost contact, leaving the other four on track for a mid-2:06 finish, all four representing different nations. By 40 km they were still together on track for 2:07:08, and when the move came it was down to Githae and Yang. Head-to-head all the way to the end, both men ran PBs as Githae broke the tape in 2:07:08, Yang a step behind in a Chinese national record 2:07:09. Moen landed 3rd in 2:07:16, his best time since Valencia four years ago, with Hosoya getting under 2:08 for the first time since running his 2:06:35 PB at the Miracle at Lake Biwa 2021 in 2:07:23 for 4th.

Githae's training partner Vincent Raimoi (Suzuki) caught Feng for 5th in 2:08:00, but Feng still made it under the Olympic standard with a 2:08:07 PB for 6th. Australian record holder Brett Robinson took 7th in 2:08:29, with the 41-year-old Kirui managing a 2:08:36 for 8th to round off the podium. The event was marred by a mid-race accident when an official vehicle hit an unnamed runner at the turnaround point near 32 km, causing him to fall and break his right elbow. The runner got up and still managed to beat the cutoff checkpoints and finish, but post-race he was taken to the hospital where doctors confirmed the broken elbow. It's estimated that it will take over 3 months for the injury to heal.

Hofu had almost an identical race, just 90 seconds or so slower and without any accidents. And a small women's field, which saw Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada Holdings) run a course record and PB 2:27:38 for the win by over 7 minutes. Tsutsui actually managed a negative split after going through halfway in 1:14:08, no small task given the windy conditions.

The men's race was targeting mid-2:07 to put the 2:08:16 CR in range, and with a 1:03:46 first half and 1:30:39 split at 30 km it was right on track. But like in Fukuoka, as soon as the pacers stopped at 30 km the projected finish time lost 30 seconds and the lead group lost a longtime member, in this case Kenyan favorite Simon Kariuki (Togami Denki) to leave four in contention. Here it was four-time winner Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS), three-time winner Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Shin Nihon Jusetsu), 2:07 guy Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda) and 2:08 guy Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software).

Takeuchi took to the front through 35 km, where they were on 2:08:03 pace, and dropping Bat-Ochir shortly after that. At 40 km Takeuchi, Ashiwa and Kawauchi were still together, and again like in Fukuoka it came down to a close sprint battle over the last km. Kawauchi edged ahead for the win in 2:08:32, with Ashiwa, a training partner of Olympic marathon trials winner Naoki Koyama, 5 seconds back in 2:08:37 for 2nd. Takeuchi, who trains with Valencia Marathon runner-up Alexander Mutiso, was right behind in 3rd with a 2:08:40 PB.

The 42-year-old Mongolian NR holder Bat-Ochir needed to run at least under 2:11:30 in order to keep his dream of becoming the first person to make six Olympic marathons alive, a time he had only run once since 2015. Although he slowed dramatically over the last 5 km, Bat-Ochir crossed the finish line in 4th in 2:10:11, more than enough to put him into the top 80 in the Road to Paris rankings and into 2nd among the four Mongolians dueling for the three spots on the Paris team. For local fans, seeing him up front again with Kawauchi was the highlight of the race, their duels in Hofu going all the way back to 2011. With this they're 2-2. Bat-Ochir has said he plans to retire after the Olympics if he makes the Paris team, but there just might be a few more races coming after that.

Overall, looking at the results of the two races, it's hard not to feel like they'd be better off as one. The top 7 in Hofu, 2:08:32 to 2:10:57, perfectly fill the hole in the Fukuoka results between 8th and 9th, 2:08:36 and 2:12:17. Is it to anyone's advantage to keep doing it like this, with both races happening at the same time? The shinkansen effect, large numbers of people running fast in a big pack, is one of the major strengths of Japanese races, and you only have to look at the results in Valencia where 132 people went sub-2:20, to see that other races get it. There has to be something that could be done here.

Fukuoka International Marathon

Fukuoka, 3 Dec. 2023

complete results

1. Michael Githae (Kenya/Suzuki) - 2:07:08 - PB

2. Shaohui Yang (China) - 2:07:09 - NR

3. Sondre Nordstad Moen (Norway) - 2:07:16

4. Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima - 2:07:23

5. Vincent Raimoi (Kenya/Suzuki) - 2:08:00

6. Peiyou Feng (China) - 2:08:07 - PB

7. Brett Robinson (Australia) - 2:08:29

8. Abel Kirui (Kenya) - 2:08:36

9. Bethwell Biwott Yegon (Kenya) - 2:12:17

10. Takumi Oishi (Suzuki) - 2:12:34 - PB

11. Joel Mwaura (Kenya/Kurosaki Harima) - 2:12:58

12. Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 2:13:14

13. Taira Kato (Shindengen Kogyo) - 2:13:39

14. Hiromasa Kumahashi (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 2:13:44

15. Yusuke Tobimatsu (Hioki City Hall) - 2:14:46

16. Kamil Jastrzębski (Poland) - 2:14:48

17. Shoya Kurokawa (JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:16:17

18. Ryuichi Yoshioka (Withlete) - 2:18:10

19. Junpei Yamaguchi (Eldoreso) - 2:18:14

20. Kodai Toyota (Okayama Univ.) - 2:18:57

-----

DNF - Abebe Negewo Degefa (Ethiopia)

DNF - Zerei Kibrom Mezngi (Norway)

DNF - Altobeli Silva (Brazil)

DNF - Tomoki Yoshioka (Kyudenko)

Hofu Yomiuri Marathon

Hofu, Yamaguchi, 3 Dec. 2023

complete results

Women

1. Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada Holdings) - 2:27:38 - CR, PB

2. Ayano Ikeuchi (Denso) - 2:34:39

3. Eriko Otsuka (Canon) - 2:42:37

4. Chika Tawara (Team RxL) - 2:43:19

5. Nami Sugochi (unattached) - 2:46:14 - PB

6. Fumiko Miki (OBRS) - 2:47:56 - PB

7. Yuka Aoyama (Sagamihara City Hall RC) - 2:49:45

8. Chika Yokota (Seibu Sekiyu) - 2:51:25

9. Aki Sato (Runpro RC) - 2:53:39 - PB

10. Nana Higashi (Yamato RC) - 2:55:53

Men

1. Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS) - 2:08:32

2. Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda) - 2:08:37

3. Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) - 2:08:40 - PB

4. Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Shin Nihon Jusetsu) - 2:10:11

5. Takuma Shibata (Komori Corp.) - 2:10:35 - PB

6. Simon Kariuki (Kenya/Togami Denki) - 2:10:53

7. Haruka Kawamura (SDF Academy) - 2:10:57 - PB

8. Shusei Ohashi (Kodaira T&F Assoc.) - 2:18:19

9. Yuhi Takami (Nagato City Hall) - 2:19:40 - PB

10. Masami Nagakura (Kurosaki Harima) - 2:22:19

Kipyegon Repeats, Toyo Wins Hakone Ekiden Qualifier in First Appearance in 21 Years

Back for the first time in 21 years after a disastrous 14th-place finish at the 102nd Hakone Ekiden this past January, Toyo University hit one out of western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park with a solid win at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai, the half marathon that serves as the official qualifying race for the 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The top 10 teams in the Hakone auto-qualify for the following year, with the rest having to run the Yosenkai in October with a squad of 10 to 16 runners out of which the top 10 score on aggregate time, with the 10 fastest schools joining the Hakone field and top individuals from non-qualifying teams names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team to make up the complete Hakone field of 21. Driven in large part by an aggressive run from 3rd-year Yu Miyazaki , one of only 2 Japanese athletes to go with the big African contingent up front, Toyo won in 10:31:30, 1:03:09 or 2:59.6/km per athlete. As the first team to have broken the 3:00/km average pace barrie...

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