Skip to main content

The Greatest Day in Japanese Men's Marathoning History



This isn't going to be a race recap. Past Tokyo Marathon champs Dickson Chumba of Kenya and Birhane Dibaba of Ethiopia running smart races, working hard after 30 km to each score a second Tokyo title, Dibaba negative splitting her way to a 2:19:51 PB just 4 seconds off the course record and Chumba running away to win in 2:05:30. London World Championships bronze medalist Amy Cragg living up to her pre-race vow to make the top three in PB time, taking 3rd in 2:21:42. Cancer survivor Satoru Kasuya delivering his best performance since almost dying five years ago, an emotional 2:14:37 for 30th.

What this is about is today, the day, the one that's been coming. Yuta Shitara getting it right, strong, unafraid, in control when he needed to be, finding what he needed when it counted, breaking the 16-year-old Japanese national record in 2:06:11 and winning a million dollar bonus for it. But not just him. Hiroto Inoue, just as strong, just as in control, never giving up even when Shitara got away, only the 5th Japanese man to break 2:07 at 2:06:54 for 5th. But not just him. Four more Japanese men under 2:09 and another three under 2:10, all of them for the first time. Nine Japanese men under 2:10, evaporating the old record of six from the classic 2003 Fukuoka International Marathon. But not just them. Amateur club runner Asuka Tanaka leading another four Japanese men under 2:11, all for the first time. And on and on.

This was the day. The greatest in Japanese men's marathoning history. The day today's Hakone Ekiden stars truly stepped up to the marathon and ran it the way that made them national celebrities in college at Hakone. The day that's always seemed frustratingly around the corner somewhere. The day that all the pent-up talent and potential broke through everything holding it back and swept away all the doubts and timidity. Is Hakone destroying Japan's future marathoners? NO. Is all the progress at the university level just maxing them out younger with nowhere to go? NO. Are today's Japanese men just a bunch of timid cosplayers who can't really compete at the international level? NO. This was the Japan that's been waiting to break through, the one that's brash, confident and strong. The one that's going to welcome the world to race them in Tokyo in 2 1/2 years. The one that knows who it is. I knew it was coming. It's about time.



Tokyo Marathon

Tokyo, 2/25/18
top 500 women's results and splits
top 500 men's results and splits

Women
1. Birhane Dibaba (Ethiopia) - 2:19:51 - PB
2. Ruti Aga (Ethiopia) - 2:21:19
3. Amy Cragg (U.S.A.) - 2:21:42 - PB
4. Shure Demise (Ethiopia) - 2:22:07
5. Helah Kiprop (Kenya) - 2:28:58
6. Hiroko Yoshitomi (Japan/Memolead) - 2:30:16 - PB
7. Madoka Nakano (Japan/Noritz) - 2:31:41 - PB
8. Mao Uesugi ('Japan/Starts) - 2:31:49 - PB
9. Marie Imada (Japan/Iwatani Zosen) - 2:32:00 - PB
10. Meixia Zhang (China) - 2:33:02 - PB
11. Asuka Yamamoto (Japan/Osaka Gakugei Univ.) - 2:34:26 - debut
12. Yoshiko Sakamoto (Japan/YWC) - 2:35:40 - PB
13. Nana Sato (Japan/Starts) - 2:37:34 - debut
14. Yumiko Kinoshita (Japan/SWAC) - 2:38:51
15. Haruka Yamaguchi (Japan/AC Kita) - 2:39:42
-----
DNF - Purity Cherotich Rionoripo (Kenya)
DNF - Anna Hahner (Germany)

Men
1. Dickson Chumba (Kenya) - 2:05:30
2. Yuta Shitara (Japan/Honda) - 2:06:11 - NR
3. Amos Kipruto (Kenya) - 2:06:33
4. Gideon Kipketer (Kenya) - 2:06:47
5. Hiroto Inoue (Japan/MHPS) - 2:06:54 - PB
6. Feyisa Lilesa (Ethiopia) - 2:07:30
7. Ryo Kiname (Japan/MHPS) - 2:08:08 - PB
8. Chihiro Miyawaki (Japan/Toyota) - 2:08:45 - PB
9. Kenji Yamamoto (Japan/Mazda) - 2:08:48 - PB
10. Yuki Sato (Japan/Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:08:58 - PB
11. Mohamed El Aaraby (Morocco) - 2:09:18 - PB
12. Kohei Ogino (Japan/Fujitsu) - 2:09:36 - PB
13. Tadashi Isshiki (Japan/GMO) - 2:09:43 - PB
14. Akinobu Murasawa (Japan/Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:09:47 - PB
15. Simon Kariuki (Kenya/Nihon Yakka Univ.) - 2:10:00 - debut
16. Asuka Tanaka (Japan/Yutori RC) - 2:10:13 - PB
17. Hiroki Yamagishi (Japan/GMO) - 2:10:14 - PB
18. Daichi Kamino (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 2:10:18 - PB
19. Kengo Suzuki (Japan/Kanagawa Univ.) - 2:10:21 - debut
20. Tsegaye Mekonnen (Ethiopia) - 2:10:26
21. Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 2:10:55 - PB
22. Hiroaki Sano (Japan/Honda) - 2:12:17
23. Masanori Sakai (Japan/Kyudenko) - 2:13:31
24. Kazuya Ishida (Japan/Nishitetsu) - 2:13:50
25. Yoshiki Koizumi (Japan/Raffine) - 2:13:50 - PB
-----
30. Satoru Kasuya (Japan/Toyota Boshoku) - 2:14:37
42. Yoshiki Kawauchi (Japan/Jaybird) - 2:17:27 - PB
-----
DNF - Vincent Kipruto (Kenya)
DNF - Wilson Kipsang (Kenya)
DNF - Tatsunori Hamasaki (Japan/Nanjo City Hall)
DNF - Minato Oishi (Japan/Toyota)
DNF - Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Japan/Konica Minolta)

photos © 2018 kanon, all rights reserved
text © 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

André Roukema said…
I'm looking forward to your longread about this incredible day for Japanse marathon running.
February 25, 2018 at 8:23 PM
jzstiner said…
Thx you for your write up..!
February 26, 2018 at 2:37 AM
Metts said…
You might say the "hardcore amateur" is alive and well in Japan compared to other countries,and the only country where they might still exist today. A 2:42 for top 500 reminds me of Boston in the late 70's and early 80's. Excellent! And the women's results too! I was watching as they were doing interviews just past the finish line, just before the 3:00 mark, and the finishers just kept streaming in. Might we say running is a part of the Japanese "lifestyle".
February 26, 2018 at 11:27 AM
Geoff B said…
That’s a good day for Yoshiki Kawauchi. Was he selected for the 2018 IAU 100km squad this year (or pursuing qualification)?
February 27, 2018 at 8:43 AM
Brett Larner said…
Yes, it was a PB by a minute for Yoshik just a week after running 2:22 in Kitakyushu, his third sub-2:20 in 2 1/2 months. 100k selection will be based on Saromako in June.
February 28, 2018 at 12:25 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Tokumoto and Yamakawa Take Over at Shibaura Kogyo in Quest for Hakone Debut

In a quest to make its first Hakone Ekiden, Shibaura Kogyo University announced this week that former Surugadai University head coach Kazuyoshi Tokumoto , 45, and former Reitaku University head coach Tatsuya Yamakawa , 40, will take over as head and assistant coach starting in April. In a statement issued by the university Tokumoto commented, "I'm pleased to have been named head coach of Shibaura Kogyo University's track and field team. When they came to feel me I could feel their passion about achieving their dream of becoming the first science and technology university to compete in the Hakone Ekiden. I was happy to accept because I felt that this was an environment in which I could grow too. It's my responsibility to help them become the 45th university ever to compete in Hakone. I hope that you'll enjoy Act II of the Tokumoto Show and cheer us on as Shibaura Kogyo heads down the road to Hakone." Yamakawa's comments read, "I arrived early in Feb...
1 comment
Read more

Takeshi Soh Reflects on 54 Years in the Sport on His Retirement as Asahi Kasei Head Coach

After 54 years at the Asahi Kasei corporate team, first as athlete and then as coach, Takeshi Soh will retire at the end of this month. Together with his twin brother Shigeru Soh they formed a duo who were icons of the Japanese marathoning world and went all the way to the Olympics. After retiring from competition Takeshi devoted himself to coaching young athletes and came to play a primary role in the leadership of Japanese long distance. His list of achievements is long, and so is the list of those he influenced and inspired. His twin Shigeru was chosen for three Olympic teams in the marathon, Montreal in 1976, Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984. Takeshi was named to the Moscow and Los Angeles teams, placing 4th in L.A. to confirm his position as one of the greatest names in the sport in that era. After becoming a coach the twins helped lead Hiromi Taniguchi to gold at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships, Koichi Morishita to silver a year later at the Barcelona Olympics, and o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nanjing World Indoor Championships Day One Japanese Results

Indoor track isn't much of a thing in Japan, but there's still a small national team at this weekend's Nanjing World Indoor Championships . High jumpers Naoto Hasegawa and Sota Haraguchi were the only Japanese athletes in action in final on Friday's opening day. Hasegawa became the first Japanese man to make top 8 in a World Indoor Championships high jump final, taking 7th with a 2.20 m SB. Haraguchi was 13th of 13 with a 2.14 m SB clearance. In the men's 400 m Fuga Sato made it through the opening heats with a 46.60 SB for 2nd in Heat 3, while Ryo Yoshikawa ran only 47.47 for 5th in Heat 2 and did not advance. Sato was eliminated in the semifinals after he was last in SF1 in 48.31. Yoshiki Kinashi and Naoki Nishioka both made it through the men's 60 m heats, Kinashi running 6.60 m for 2nd in Heat 8 and Nishioka 6.67 for 3rd in Heat 4. In the semifinals both were eliminated, Nishioka improving to 6.62 for 4th in SF3 and Kinashi running 6.63 for 5th in SF2....
Post a Comment
Read more