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Feb. 20 Kochi Ryoma Marathon Canceled

We regret to announce that the Feb. 20, 2022 Kochi Ryoma Marathon has been canceled. To meet the expectations of all those who had trained through the pandemic and everyone else who supports our event, the organizing committee had thoroughly explored and planned measures that would allow the race to go ahead. But with new coronavirus cases expanding rapidly across the country and the difficulties created in securing the services of staff necessary to put on the event, despite the short amount of time left until the race the organizing committee has decided that it would not be possible to hold the race in a way that would be safe for participants, staff, and the citizens of Kochi prefecture. We are very sorry for all the runners who believed in our race and trained to be ready for it, for all the staff, volunteers and other stakeholders already in the process of preparing for the event, and all the others who support the Ryoma Marathon. Thank you for understanding this decision. Part
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Mar. 6 Kagoshima Marathon Canceled

The Kagoshima Marathon organizing committee regrets to announce that this year's race scheduled for Mar. 6 has been officially canceled.  The organizing committee had made careful preparations to hold the event for the first time since 2019 with COVID-safe protocols in order to meet the hopes of all the runners, volunteers and others who had been eagerly looking forward to its return, and to bring the local community something that would inspire it. But with the current explosive 6th-wave spread of new coronavirus cases throughout the prefecture and nationwide fueled by the highly infectious omicron variant, the situation is now one in which it is no longer possible to know for certain where or when someone was infected. In consideration of this, we decided that we could no longer hold the race in a way that would ensure the safety of all participants, staff, volunteers and local residents, and with great regret have been forced to cancel it. We are painfully aware that this will
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National Corporate Half Marathon to Accept Collegiate Runners After Marugame Cancels

Following the cancelation of the Feb. 6 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon , JITA has announced that it will give special permission for top collegiate athletes who had been entered in Marugame to run in the Feb. 13 National Corporate Half Marathon in Yamaguchi instead.  Top collegiate athletes from the Kanto Region have often taken a week or two off after the Hakone Ekiden, then delivered excellent performances at Marugame. Last week it was announced that this year's Marugame has been canceled due to an explosive resurgence in coronavirus cases, its second-straight cancelation.  With that opportunity now gone, JITA created the special opportunity for top university athletes to compete at the National Corporate Half a week after they would have raced in Marugame. But with the field at the National Corporate Half already at is maximum capacity, JITA has limited the number of collegians it will accept to around 10. A complication is that Yamaguchi prefecture's current p
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Kayoko Fukushi to Publish Book After Retiring This Month

Set to retire after running the Jan. 30 Osaka Half Marathon, Kayoko Fukushi  (39, Wacoal) will publish a book through Kyoto's Iroha Publishing . Its title will be simply "Kayoko Fukushi."  The book will give an autobiographical account of the many achievements throughout her career, from setting multiple national records to four-straight Olympic teams to her unforgettable debut at the Osaka International Women's Marathon where she fell repeatedly late in the race. Contributors to the book include her parents, teachers, and other athletes including her Wacoal teammate and Tokyo Olympian Mao Ichiyama . Publication is scheduled for Feb. 19, with reservations for autographed copies open now via Sankei iD. source article: https://www.sanspo.com/article/20220121-CJ4QVY6WRRLQ3C7NEAZC3DP2MM/ translated by Brett Larner
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Denso and Chikushi Joshi Gakuen Win Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden

One of the only races to resist the pressure to cancel as Japan's COVID numbers break new ground, the Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden took place Sunday in northern Fukuoka with top high school, college, club and corporate teams racing a short 27.2 km course through cold rain.  Only 21 of the 40 teams on the entry list started, but among them was defending open division champ Denso . Denso took the lead on the 3.8 km Second Stage with another course record run from CR holder Husan Zeyituna and held on through midway on the 10.4 km Fifth Stage, when anchor Yuka Matsumoto was caught by Nozomi Tanaka of the non-scoring Meijo/Toyota Select Team . The Meijo/Toyota hybrid crossed the line first in 1:28:05, Denso 51 seconds back to score 1st in the open division and claim a 2nd-straight win. But they were actually 3rd across the line. The local Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S. team led the high school division from the start, falling back a bit on the Second Stage but clocking t
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Cancelations Hit Beppu-Oita and Nobeoka Marathons

The latest wave of race cancelations sweeping Japan as its coronavirus case numbers climb to record highs hit two elite-level marathons Friday, the Feb. 6 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon and Feb. 13 Nobeoka Nishi Nihon Marathon . Planned as a full-sized race with 4,184 entrants, with just two weeks to go Beppu-Oita announced that in an effort to cope with the worsening situation it was limiting its field to those with sub-2:30 times and their pacers, IPC athletes, and local entrants, all required to be fully vaccinated and tested within a short period before the race. Its new limited field of 543 takes Beppu-Oita back to its roots as an elite-only race, but the remaining 3600+ entrants find themselves out of luck. Just down the coast, Nobeoka took an even more conservative approach. Planned with a field size of only 200 plus an invited athlete field of what would probably have been another 8 or 10, the city government announced on Friday that the race has been canceled outright. In th
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Feb. 20 Kitakyushu Marathon Canceled

After having been canceled last year, we have been taking precautions against the coronavirus pandemic and been preparing to hold the Kitakyushu Marathon again on Feb. 20 this year. But with the rapid spread of the omicron variant since the beginning of the year, the increasing infection numbers all across the country, and no sign of passing the peak yet in sight, we feel that it would now be difficult to ensure the safety of all runners, volunteers, medical personal and race officials. As a result, we regret to inform you that we must cancel this year's race. Please read this Q&A PDF for more information regarding the cancelation. Translator's note: In its last edition in 2020 the Kitakyushu Marathon had 9,485 finishers. source article: https://kitakyushu-marathon.jp/announcement2022.html translated by Brett Larner
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Feb. 20 Shonan International Marathon Canceled

Scheduled for Feb. 20, 2022, the 16th Shonan International Marathon has been officially canceled. For everyone who has borne hope through the coronavirus crisis and worked together to bring back mass-participation marathons, we had set as our goal the task of staging an event where everyone could participate safely even in the midst of the pandemic. To that end we were requiring a negative PCR test and full vaccination for all runners, volunteers and staff members, and we are deeply disappointed not to be able to follow through for all of those who understood the need for these requirements and made the brave decision to support them. Our initial plan for implementing the race safely was based on these two requirements and additional countermeasures against the spread of the virus. But with the outbreak of the omicron variant, which has a very short incubation period from infection to expression of the disease that decreases the reliability of PCR testing in the three days before the
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