Marathon Weekend Roundup

The Kumanichi 30 km and Ome 30 km were the two big road races this past weekend, but there were at least 5 big mass-participation marathons with decent semi-elite results Sunday too.

The Kyoto Marathon saw the fastest times of the weekend, with local boy Yuma Morii beating Yudai Fukuda 2:16:19 to 2:16:50 to win. Fuka Hirokawa won the women's race by over 3 minutes in 2:45:09, but 3rd-placer Miyu Fukada had a much faster net time, 2:41:09 versus her gun time of 2:50:16. It's not clear why she started so far back.

The Kumamoto Castle Marathon had a great race up front between last year's winner and CR holder Hiroaki Furukawa and Hyuga Abe. Abe missed Furukawa's CR by 12 seconds but beat Furukawa by 14, going 2:16:26 to 2:16:40. Michiru Kato won out over the ageless Mai Fujisawa in the women's race, winning in 2:45:32 to Fujisawa's 2:47:11.

Veterans dominated at the Kitakyushu Marathon, where Rio Olympian Hisanori Kitajima, now 40, beat another 40+ runner, Takashi Hashimoto, 2:17:25 to 2:18:08. Like Fukada in Kyoto, Hashimoto's net time was 2:14:21, baffling given his level. Riko Ozawa took the women's race in 2:47:16 by a slim margin over veteran, Chika Tawara, 2nd in 2:48:02.

The Kochi Ryoma Marathon saw the tightest race of the weekend in the men's race. 100 km NR holder Jumpei Yamaguchi dug deep to fight off amateurs Takemaru Yamasaki and Shinya Ohashi, all of them finishing within 32 seconds but Yamaguchi getting the win in 2:20:10. Mai Fukushima was the women's winner in 2:55:58.

With hills and humidity the Okinawa Marathon isn't suited to fast times. Daijiro Seto won the men's title in 2:29:36, with 40+ runner Eri Suzuki winning the women's race in 2:53:51.

Kyoto Marathon

Kyoto, 16 Feb. 2025

complete results

Men

1. Yuma Morii - 2:16:19

2. Yudai Fukuda - 2:16:50

3. Tatsuya Itagaki - 2:18:56

Women

1. Fuka Hirokawa - 2:45:09

2. Miyuki Nishimura - 2:48:18

3. Miyu Fukada - 2:50:16 (2:41:09 net)

Kumamoto Castle Marathon

Kumamoto, 16 Feb. 2025

complete results

Men

1. Hyuma Abe - 2:16:26

2. Hiroaki Furukawa - 2:16:40

3. Yuhi Takami - 2:19:45

4. Taiga Nishihara - 2:19:56

Women

1. Michiru Kato - 2:45:32

2. Mai Fujisawa - 2:47:11

3. Reina Okumura - 2:48:28

4. Seika Iwamura - 2:49:27

Kitakyushu Marathon

Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 16 Feb. 2025

complete results

Men

1. Hisanori Kitajima - 2:17:25

2. Takashi Hashimoto - 2:18:08 (net 2:14:21)

3. Yuichi Hirotani - 2:24:20

Women

1. Riko Ozawa - 2:47:16

2. Chika Tawara - 2:48:02

3. Yuka Tomitaka - 2:56:25

Kochi Ryoma Marathon

Kochi, 16 Feb. 2025

complete results

Men

1. Jumpei Yamaguchi - 2:20:10

2. Takemaru Yamasaki - 2:20:33

3. Shinya Ohashi - 2:20:42

Women

1. Mai Fukushima - 2:55:58

2. Kaho Morino - 2:57:30

3. Satomi Okabayashi - 3:00:04

Okinawa Marathon

Okinawa, 16 Feb. 2025

complete results

Men

1. Daijiro Seto - 2:29:36

2. Shogo Sasaki - 2:30:56

3. Tomohide Nishikawa - 2:34:05

Women

1. Eri Suzuki - 2:53:51

2. Natsuki Yokoo - 2:55:53

3. Mari Yonekura - 3:01:14

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

World Marathon Majors Japanese Entries

We're back from a short summer break. A week and a half out from the first race of the season's four World Marathon Majors races, here's a look at Japanese athletes scheduled to run. Everything right now is about qualifying for the MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to be held in the fall of 2027 in Nagoya. The JAAF makes no mistake about wanting to keep its top people racing domestically where it can get a share of revenue from the TV broadcast and race operations, so anyone who decides to race overseas has to do it in a WA platinum label race and hit either 2:06:30 or 2:23:30, regardless of place, course or weather if they want to make the trials. At the same time concessions are make for domestic races, like for example the late-August Hokkaido Marathon where up to 3 men and 3 women can qualify if they go 2:12:00 or 2:32:00. As a result, you get things like last year where amateur runner Yudai Fukuda made the trials by finishing 3rd Jap...

Nakajima Breaks 100 mH NR Twice, Kitaguchi Returns - August Track Roundup

Catching up on what's been happening in track and field this month during our summer break: Men's 3000 m NR holder Nagiya Mori was just off his 5000 m PB at the IFAM Oordegem meet in Belgium on Aug. 1, taking 16th in 13:15.01. Shota Nakano was 26th of 28 in 13:35.02. This year's national champion Ryoma Aoki ran the 3000 mSC but didn't finish. Naoto Hasegawa was the only Japanese athlete at Mutaz Essa Barshim 's What Gravity Tour stop at the Monaco Athletics Festival meet on Aug. 5. Having cleared 2.30 m for the first time earlier this year Hasegawa only managed 2.18 m in Monaco, taking 7th of 10. There were a lot of good performances at the Fuji Hokuriku World Trial meet in Fujiyoshida on Aug. 9, but the one that got the headlines was a 12.62 (-0.2) NR in the women's 100 mH by Hitomi Nakajima . Nakajima actually did it twice, running 12.62 (+2.0) in the heats before repeating in the final. Masumi Aoki also ran big in the heats, with a 12.68 (+2.0) for al...

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