Nakamoto and Kawauchi to Run Boston

Japan's Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) and Kentaro Nakamoto (Yasukawa Denki) will run the 2018 Boston Marathon as part of the John Hancock Elite Athlete Team. Kawauchi holds world records for everything from most career sub-2:12 marathons to most sub-2:20, while Nakamoto is Japan's best championships marathoner of modern times with four top 10 finishes at the Olympics and World Championships.

Longtime rivals, their duel at the 2013 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon was one of the classics of Japanese marathoning, both running sub-2:09 PBs as Kawauchi set a still-standing course record of 2:08:15. The pair has a 3-3 record in the marathon so far, their most recent meeting coming at last summer's London World Championships where Kawauchi ran Nakamoto down in the last kilometer to take 9th. Boston will be their 7th and likely final face-off.

Our 2018 #BostonMarathon International Elite Field includes 46 of the world’s best marathoners from 13 countries. Watch to see the team who will run #TogetherForward on April 16. pic.twitter.com/s4s93mbPzS

— John Hancock (@johnhancockusa) January 11, 2018

2018 Boston Marathon 
John Hancock Elite Athlete Team
Boston, U.S.A., 4/16/18
times listed are best in last three years except where noted

Men
Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia) - 2:04:11 (Dubai 2017)
Lemi Berhanu (Ethiopia) - 2:04:33 (Dubai 2016)
Norbert Kigen (Kenya) - 2:05:13 (Amsterdam 2017)
Evans Chebet (Kenya) - 2:05:30 (Valencia 2017)
Felix Kandie (Kenya) - 2:06:03 (Seoul 2017)
Geoffrey Kirui (Kenya) - 2:06:27 (Amsterdam 2016)
Philemon Rono (Kenya) - 2:06:52 (Toronto Waterfront 2017)
Abdi Nageeye (Netherlands) - 2:08:16 (Amsterdam 2017)
Wilson Chebet (Kenya) - 2:08:19 (Amsterdam 2016)
Arne Gabius (Germany) - 2:08:33 (Frankfurt 2015)
Yuki Kawauchi (Japan) - 2:09:01 (Gold Coast 2016)
Lelisa Desisa (Ethiopia) - 2:09:17a (Boston 2015)
Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) - 2:09:20 (Chicago 2017)
Kentaro Nakamoto (Japan) - 2:09:32 (Beppu-Oita 2017)
Reid Coolsaet (Canada) - 2:10:28 (Berlin 2015)
Stephen Sambu (Kenya) - 2:11:07 (Chicago 2017)
Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) - 2:11:20a (Boston 2015)
Abdi Abdirahman (U.S.A.) - 2:11:23 (New York 2016)
Lusapho April (South Africa) - 2:11:27 (Hannover 2016)
Eric Gillis (Canada) - 2:11:31 (Toronto Waterfront 2015)
Elkanah Kibet (U.S.A.) - 2:11:31 (Chicago 2015)
Tim Ritchie (U.S.A.) - 2:11:56a (Cal Int'l 2017)
Shadrack Biwott (U.S.A.) - 2:12:01 (New York 2016)
Scott Smith (U.S.A.) - 2:12:21 (Frankfurt 2017)
Ryan Vail (U.S.A.) - 2:12:40 (Berlin 2017)
Andrew Bumbalough (U.S.A.) - 2:13:58 (Tokyo 2017)

photos © 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved