Big Japanese Results in Berlin

Results at this year's Berlin Marathon were big overall, with 6 women under 2:21 and 14 men under 2:07, and in both the women's and men's races multiple Japanese athletes had great days. In the women's race Paris Olympics marathon alternate Ai Hosoda (Edion) and Tokyo Olympics marathon alternate Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) ran the entire way together, 1:10:13 through halfway and 2:13:09 at 40 km. Hosoda had the better closing speed, finishing in an all-time Japanese #7 2:20:31 for 5th.

Matsuda, who had previously broken 2:21 in her win at the 2022 Osaka International Women's Marathon, took 10 seconds off her time in that race for an all-time Japanese #8 2:20:42 for 6th. Having floated retirement after missing the Paris team, it was a great payoff for Matsuda's decision to give it one more go. Hosoda's 2:20 was a major breakthrough, but as her 5th time going under 2:22 Matsuda's performance solidified her position as one of Japan's best ever.

After a 2:06:53 debut for 7th in Osaka last year the Toshinari Takaoka-coached Yohei Ikeda (Kao) was sent to the Asian Games instead of being named to the Budapest World Championships team. In Berlin he, Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) and Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu) went out together on 2:05:45 pace with another group including Kento Kikutani (Toyota Boshoku) and Hideyuki Tanaka (Toyota) a short distance back.

Ikeda accelerated to NR pace after 10 km, hitting halfway in 1:02:25, leaving Tamura and Urano to drop back to the following group at 1:02:35. At 30 km Ikeda was on 2:05:06 pace, Tamura, Urano and Tanaka all dead on 2:06-flat pace. By 40 km Ikeda had jumped up to 7th overall, and with a strong last kick overtook Ethiopian Tadese Takele right before the finish to take 6th in 2:05:12, the 2nd-fastest time ever by a Japanese man and only 16 seconds off the NR.

Tamura was next at 19th in a PB 2:07:38, another big step by one of the more interesting people in Japanese athletics. Urano blew up hard, dropping to 46th in 2:16:27 after being overtaken by Kikutani, 30th in 2:11:17, Tanaka, 31st in 2:11:21, and amateur Yuji Shibukawa (Gunma United AC), who wasn't far off his 2:15:40 best from Tokyo this year with a 2:16:26 for 45th to edge Urano at the line.

Up front, Ethiopian athletes pulled off the double. In the women's race they took the top 4 spots, with Tigist Ketema running a solid 2:16:42 for the win by just over 2 minutes. Milkesa Mingesha won the men's race, leading 4 men under 2:04 with a 2:03:17.

Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field

The Dec. 1 Fukuoka International Marathon is the first of this winter season's big selection races for the home soil team for next year's Tokyo World Championships, and the domestic field is a great one. Kenya Sonota , 2:05:59 in Tokyo last year, and 2:06 men Yusuke Nishiyama , Yuya Yoshida , Kazuya Nishiyama and Daisuke Doi make up the main contenders to get a spot, with internationals Lemeck Too , Jie He , Bethwel Yegon , Vincent Raimoi , last year's winner Michael Githae , and Shaohui Yang perfectly positioned to add momentum to the shot at the 2:06:30 Worlds standard that they'll all be taking. 8 other Japanese men in the 2:07 to 2:09 range make it one of the most competitive Fukuoka editions in a long, long time. Last year Githae outkicked Yang by 1 second to win 2:07:08 to 2:07:09, Yang with a Chinese NR that was broken a few months later by He in Wuxi. Chinese men's marathoning has momentum right now too, and it wouldn't be surprising to see either He

Ayaka Suzuki, Younger Sister of Olympic Marathoner Yuka Suzuki, Faces Final East Japan Women's Ekiden

The final edition of the East Japan Women's Ekiden takes place Nov. 10. 18 teams representing the eastern prefectures will bring high-level women's competition to the streets of Fukushima. Getting attention on the Akita team is Ayaka Suzuki , the younger sister of Paris Olympics marathon 6th-placer Yuka Suzuki . Ayaka is a 3rd-year at Akita's Omagari H.S. She began running seriously after entering high school, citing her sister's influence. "When I saw her winning her stages and helping her team in university ekidens, I thought that I might be able to do the same and decided to give it a try," she said. Before her excellent run at the Paris Olympics Yuka ran the East Japan Women's Ekiden 3 times, inspiring others as she went from a young athlete to one of the best in the world. "I was surprised that she was competitive at that level," said Ayaka. "When I saw how strong she was running it really moved me." In junior high school Ayaka w

Saku Chosei High School's Hamaguchi Runs 13:31.62 at Nittai

2023 National High School Ekiden champion Saku Chosei H.S. was out in force Sunday in the 5000 m fast heats at the 317th Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama. 3rd-year Yamato Hamaguchi ran 13:31.62, the 4th-fastest time ever by a Japanese-born high schooler, and 3rd-year Tetsu Sasaki went under 14 minutes for the first time with an excellent 13:40.02. The race took place as light rain fell. Hamaguchi and Sasaki ran alongside African university and corporate league runners. From the start they were conservative, staying in the pack as the race went along. With splits of 2:42 and 1000 m and 8:11 at 3000 m the high school record of 13:22.99 set 2 years ago by Saku Chosei alum Hiroto Yoshioka was out of reach, but right til the last sprint Hamaguchi stayed in contact with the lead. Hamaguchi took almost 7 seconds off his 13:38.40 PB from last year, with Sasaki rewriting his 14:03.51 best by nearly 24 seconds. Both beat Yamanashi Gakuin H.S. 2nd-year Felix Muthiani , who ran

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