Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Entry List (updated)

Entry lists are out for the Feb. 4 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. There's no separate women's entry list, but last year's 2nd and 3rd-placers Rieko Koshi and Hisae Yoshimatsu are both back and will probably go 1-2. The men's race has a small international contingent of Moroccans Mohamed Reda El Aaraby and Ayoub Dardar, Ethiopians Aychew Bantie and Workneh Derese, and Canadian Ben Preisner, with El Aaraby and Bantie setting up a potential 2:07 race for the Japanese crowd.

Six Japanese men at the 2:07 to 2:08 level who have a realistic view of their chances of hitting the 2:05:50 standard to steal the 3rd spot on the Paris Olympic team in Osaka or Tokyo are on the list for Beppu-Oita, where a good run will earn them a trip to October's Chicago Marathon. Fumihiro Maruyama (Asahi Kasei) and Yuta Koyama (Toenec) are the fastest at 2:07:55 and 2:07:57 in Osaka the last two years, with Yuta Shimoda (GMO) leading the 2:08 quartet in 2:08:00 from Lake Biwa 2021.

Sub-62 half marathoners Yuki Muta (Logisteed) and Kosuke Yamada (Toyota Boshoku) are both set to run their first serious half marathons, but the name that will get all the attention is Aoi Ota, Third Stage runner for 2024 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University. Ota ran the equivalent of a 58:57 half marathon to put AGU into the lead on his 21.4 km leg at Hakone, and here he'll be joined by teammates Kosei Shiraishi and Ninth Stage winner Genta Kuramoto, and AGU alum Hironori Kishimoto (GMO). Ota, Shiraishi and Kuramoto will be looking to follow up on AGU's Shungo Yokota's 2:07:47 collegiate record run for 4th in Beppu-Oita last year.

Update: On Jan. 15 the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon organizers announced that Ota had withdrawn from the race due to not feeling well. On Jan. 22 they added Ryo Hashimoto (Chuo Hatsujo) to the withdrawal list due to an injury.

72nd Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Entry List Highlights

Beppu, Oita, 4 Feb. 2024

complete entry list

times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted

Men

Mohamed Reda El Aaraby (Morocco) - 2:06:55 (Paris 2022)

Hicham Laqouahi (Morocco) - 2:07:02 (Seoul 2023) - added Jan. 16

Aychew Bantie (Ethiopia) - 2:07:19 (Kosice 2022)

Fumihiro Maruyama (Asahi Kasei) - 2:07:55 (Osaka 2022)

Yuta Koyama (Toenec) - 2:07:57 (Osaka 2023)

Yuta Shimoda (GMO) - 2:08:00 (Lake Biwa 2021)

Kazuya Azegami (Toyota) - 2:08:29 (Osaka 2023)

Ryo Osaki (Komori Corp.) - 2:08:30 (Osaka 2023)

Yuichi Yasui (Toyota) - 2:08:48 (Beppu-Oita 2023)

Ryo Hashimoto (Chuo Hatsujo) - 2:09:12 (Beppu-Oita 2022) - scratch on Jan. 22

Reo Kuniyuki (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:09:21 (Hofu 2022)

Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:10:02 (Beppu-Oita 2022)

Takuma Kumagai (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:10:41 (Fukuoka Int'l 2021)

Workneh Derese (Ethiopia/Hiramatsu Byoin) - 2:10:52 (Fukuoka Int'l 2019)

Asuka Tanaka (Runlife) - 2:11:09 (Tokyo 2022)

Ben Preisner (Canada) - 2:11:47 (Eugene World Championships 2022)

Ayoub Dardar (Morocco) - 2:13:38 (Kobe 2023)

Debut / Do-Over

Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 58:57 (Hakone Ekiden 3rd leg 2024) - scratch on Jan. 15

Yuki Muta (Logisteed) - 1:01:10 (National Corporate Half 2022)

Kosuke Yamada (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:01:34 (National Corporate Half 2022)

Kosei Shiraishi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:52 (Setagaya 246 Half 2023) - scratch on Feb. 4

Genta Kuramoto (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:01 (Setagaya 246 Half 2023)

Hironori Kishimoto (GMO) - 27:54.91 (Hachioji Long Distance 2023)

Women

Rieko Koshi (Emoto Juku) - 2:43:07 (Tokyo 2023)

Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) - 2:47:51 (Beppu-Oita 2023)

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

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