Tse and Ota Win Lake Saroma 100 km in High Heat, 67-yr-Old Yugeta 10th

With temperatures reported as high as 35˚C and sunny conditions, a total of 3,858 people were reported to have run Sunday's Lake Saroma 100 km and 50 km Ultramarathon. The conditions were bad enough that 3 runners were taken to the hospital with heatstroke and world champion Haruki Okayama had to drop out mid-race, but that didn't stop Hong Kong's Kok Wai Tse from running strong over the 2nd half of the race to come from behind with an excellent 6:28:39 for the win.

At halfway Tse was almost 2 minutes behind a lead group that included Hideaki Yamauchi and Hideo Nojo, but when they faded in the heat Tse was there to take over. He ultimately finished over 13 minutes ahead of 2nd-place Shion Oe, who likewise had a more conservative start and spent most of the race with eventual 3rd-placer Naoki Matsuo. Yamauchi was ultimately 4th in 6:47:32, splitting 3:07:39/3:39:53, with Nojo 5th in 6:49:37 with even more painful splits of 3:07:30/3:42:07.

In the women's race Mikiko Ota won in 7:32:21, her 3rd-straight Lake Saroma win. "I still can't believe it!" she said post-race. "I'm super happy. The 2nd half was really hard, but the people cheering along the course helped me get through it." Akiko Maruichi was 2nd in 7:39:04, with Miho Nakata 3rd in 7:51:10. 67-year-old sub-3 marathoner Mariko Yugeta was 10th overall in 8:24:02.

Kanata Mizote won the men's 50 km in 3:17:28, with Mikiko Matsuda winning the women's race in 4:11:54.

Lake Saroma 100 km and 50 km Ultramarathon

Hokkaido, 29 June 2025

complete results

Men's 100 km

1. Kok Wai Tse (Hong Kong) - 6:28:39

2. Shion Oe - 6:42:01

3. Naoki Matsuo - 6:45:20

4. Hideaki Yamauchi - 6:47:32

5. Hideo Nojo - 6:49:37

6. Taku Fujiwara - 6:51:27

7. Ryotaro Kamoshida - 6:54:00

8. Chiharu Kuzukubo - 6:56:27

9. Akihiro Mizushima - 7:09:23

10. Shinya Dobashi - 7:10:47

Women's 100 km

1. Mikiko Ota - 7:32:21

2. Akiko Maruichi - 7:39:04

3. Miho Nakata - 7:51:10

4. Kaoru Ono - 7:59:00

5. Mai Fujisawa - 8:03:26

6. Yurina Kawasaki - 8:03:58

7. Saki Shimada - 8:05:26

8. Sakiko Matsumoto - 8:11:55

9. Yuka Tomitaka - 8:13:38

10. Mariko Yugeta - 8:24:02

Men's 50 km

1. Kanata Mizote - 3:17:28

2. Taichi Soda - 3:22:48

3. Kazuki Matsushita - 3:29:01

Women's 50 km

1. Mikiko Matsuda - 4:11:54

2. Ayaka Mori - 4:14:53

3. Kaori Umeshita - 4:34:11

Japan's First Goldless Day - Asian Athletics Championships Day Four Highlights

Day 4 of the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships was the first without a single gold medal going to Japan, but there were still enough silvers and bronzes to go around. Robyn Lauren Brown of the Philippines outclassed the rest of the women's 400 mH final field, taking gold in 57.50. Eri Utsunomiya and Ami Yamamoto made it a Japanese 2-3, Utsunomiya running 57.73 for silver and Yamamoto 57.80 for bronze. Yusaku Kodama also scored silver in the men's 400 mH, running 48.96 behind Qatari winner Bassem Hemeida 's 48.64. Yuki Yamasaki won bronze in the heptathlon with 5696 points, Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Voronina taking gold in 6098 and Swapna Barman silver in 5840. Teammate Karin Odama was 4th in 5487. Another bronze came in the mixed 4x400 m relay, with Japan running 3:15.71 behind India's 3:14.70 and Sri Lanka's 3:15.41. Naoto Hasegawa and Ryoichi Akamatsu both cleared 2.23 m in the men's high jump, Hasegawa finishing 4th overall and Akamatsu 5th. ...

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