Skip to main content

Hofu Marathon Elite Field



Last year's women's runner-up Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) returns to the Dec. 16 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon after a strong year racing abroad including a 2nd-place finish in extreme heat at May's Geneva Marathon. Already the most dominant winner male or female in Hofu history, Yoshimatsu will attempt to add a record seventh win to her resume three weeks after racing this Sunday's Osaka Marathon.

In the men's race, two three-time winners, Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/NTN) and Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) will try to become the first man to win Hofu four times. They will face competition from Kenyan Michael Githae (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), who beat Kawauchi by over 20 seconds at last weekend's Ageo City Half Marathon, his Suzuki teammate Taiga Ito, and last year's runner-up Tatsunori Hamasaki (Nanjo AC), like Kawauchi doubling up two weeks after Fukuoka.

49th Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite Field Highlights

Hofu, Yamaguchi, 12/16/18
detailed field listing
times listed are best within last 3 years except where noted

Women
Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) - 2:36:02 (Muenster 2017)

Men
Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 2:09:01 (Gold Coast 2016)
Michael Githae (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:09:21 (Lake Biwa 2018)
Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:10:52 (Beppu-Oita 2017)
Tatsunori Hamasaki (Nanjo AC) - 2:11:26 (Hofu 2017)
Takumi Honda (Asahi Kasei) - 2:12:18 (Nobeoka Nishi 2018)
Ezekiel Cheboitibin (Kenya/Sunbelx) - 2:12:32 (Beppu-Oita 2018)
Shinichi Yamashita (Takigahara SDF Base) - 2:12:32 (Hofu 2017)
Ser-od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/NTN) - 2:13:22 (Fukuoka Int'l 2017)
Munkhbayar Narandulam (Mongolia) - 2:13:56 (Chengdu 2018)
Satoru Kasuya (Toyota Boshoku) - 2:14:37 (Tokyo 2018)
Yusuke Tobimatsu (Hioki City Hall) - 2:15:32 (Kagoshima 2017)

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more

Mashiko Breaks U20 5000 m NR - Weekend Track Roundup

Saturday's Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto was the weekend's main event in Japanese track, but there were good results at the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama too. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) led the men's 5000 m A-heat at Kanakuri in 13:14.06, with Tomonori Yamaguchi (SGH) clocking the fastest Japanese time in 13:16.38 in his first race as a corporate leaguer. Waseda University duo Rui Suzuki and Yota Mashiko went 6-7 in 13:20.64 and 13:22.87, the 18-year-old Mashiko shaving 0.04 off the U20 NR. In 8th, Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) ran a PB of 13:23.92. 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) continued to struggle after a weak indoor season, finishing 18th of 20 finishers in 13:45.10. 19-year-old Festus Kimorwo (Kurosaki Harima) was under 13:20 in the B-heat too, winning in a 13:19.59 PB. 2 more collegiate men broke 13:30, Daichi Fujita (Chuo Univ.) 8th in 13:28.93 and Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) 9th in 13:29.09. The top 6 in the men's 800 m A-hea...
Post a Comment
Read more