Kobe Marathon Elite Field

Next weekend's Kobe Marathon is the latest Japanese race to acquire an IAAF road race label, something we'll probably be seeing a lot more of both in Japan and abroad with the IAAF's shift to a world ranking-based system that rewards performance in labeled races. The field this year perfectly follows the same boutique pattern as most other Japanese races' tiny international fields, one athlete each from the widest range of nationalities possible within a field of six to eight, plus some home soil people. With the IAAF dropping the nationality variety requirement starting in 2019 it'll be interesting to see how that impacts races like Kobe, Fukuoka International and Saitama International.

Last year's men's winner Khalil Lamciyeh of Morocco returns as the third-fastest man in the field behind newly-minted nationality transfer Weldu Negash of Norway and Kenyan Cosmas Kyeva. Saidi Juma Makula of Tanzania and Australian Liam Adams could be in range of the win, with Moroccan Hamzi Sahili and top-ranked Japanese man Sora Tsukada (SGH) a ways back in ability to date. A potential darkhorse is Jun Shinoto (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko), a past 3000 m steeplechase national champion and Hakone Ekiden stage record setter who made an unsuccessful marathon debut earlier this year in Beppu-Oita.

Mongolian national record holder Munkhzaya Bayartsogt and Eritrean national record holder Kokob Tesfagabriel lead the women's field, exactly the kind of interesting, outside-the-norm matchup that made the IAAF's nationality requirement so valuable. Moroccan Sanae Achahbar should be in it with them, with Nina Savina of Belarus, Kenyan Susan Jerotich and Australian Melanie Panayiotou rounding out the international contingent. Former Noritz runner Kanae Shimoyama (MD Homes) is the top-ranked Japanese woman with a 2:35:07 two years ago in Nagoya. Noriko Higuchi (Wacoal), the last Japanese woman to win the Tokyo Marathon back in 2011, will be running her first marathon since the spring of 2015.

8th Kobe Marathon Elite Field Highlights

Kobe, Hyogo, 11/18/18
detailed filed listing
times listed are best in last 3 years except where noted

Men
Weldu Negash (Norway) - 2:10:39 (7th, Daegu 2018)
Cosmas Kyeva (Kenya) - 2:11:45 (1st, Poznan 2018)
Khalil Lamciyeh (Morocco) - 2:11:58 (6th, Beppu-Oita 2017)
Saidi Juma Makula (Tanzania) - 2:12:01 (3rd, Daegu 2016)
Liam Adams (Australia) - 2:12:52 (9th, Berlin 2017)
Hamza Sahili (Morocco) - 2:13:46 (6th, Marrakesh 2018)
Sora Tsukada (Japan/SGH) - 2:15:16 (4th, Osaka 2016)
Jun Shinoto (Japan/Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 2:24:04 (33rd, Beppu-Oita 2018)

Women
Munkhzaya Bayartsogt (Mongolia) - 2:31:12 (10th, Seoul Int'l 2018)
Kokob Tesfagabriel (Eritrea) - 2:31:45 (Wuhan 2018)
Sanae Achahbar (Morocco) - 2:32:36 (4th, Marrakesh 2017)
Nina Savina (Belarus) - 2:33:50 (12th, Euro Champs 2018)
Susan Jerotich (Kenya) - 2:34:18 (2nd, Pittsburgh 2018)
Kanae Shimoyama (Japan/MD Homes) - 2:35:07 (26th, Nagoya 2016)
Melanie Panayiotou (Australia) - 2:35:25 (19th, London 2017)
Noriko Higuchi (Japan/Wacoal) - 2:42:05 (10th, Vienna 2015)

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

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