Boston Marathon Japanese Results

On a day that saw the fastest Boston Marathon men's winning time in 8 years and one of the deepest races in history with ten men under 2:10 including two Americans, the strongest-ever Japanese men's contingent at Boston couldn't live up to the level of the day.

2018 Jakarta Asian Games gold medalist Hiroto Inoue lasted the longest, running solidly in the lead pack well into the Newton hills and looking comfortable until he didn't. Inoue ended up 12th in 2:11:53, just missing a top 10 placing that would have put him clear of the 2020 Olympic qualifying standards ahead of September's MGC Race Olympic trials.

Defending champ Yuki Kawauchi fell off early, dropping at one point to 5th among the five elite Japanese men in the field but rallying late in the race to take 17th in 2:15:29, 29 seconds faster than his winning time last year. Kawauchi ran down Hayato Sonoda in the home straight, Sonoda next across the line behind him in 2:15:58.

Masao Kizu was aiming for a top 8 finish and lasted longer than Kawauchi in the lead group, but struggling badly in the hills he ended up 24th in 2:17:43, just bettering his PB. Hiroki Kai started slower than the rest of the Japanese men but briefly overtook Kawauchi mid-race before dropping back to 28th in 2:19:31.

No top-level Japanese women were in the race, which Ethiopian Worknesh Degefa won via some bold frontrunning despite past winner Edna Kiplagat's best efforts to run her down. Nami Hashimoto was the top-placing Japanese woman at 28th in 2:40:41, with club runner Kaoru Nagao not far back at 33rd in 2:42:07. Corporate leaguer Nao Isaka went through halfway in 1:22:58 but faded badly over the second half to finish in 3:00:17.

123rd Boston Marathon

Boston, U.S.A., 4/15/19
complete results

Men
1. Lawrence Cherono (Kenya) - 2:07:57
2. Lelisa Desisa (Ethiopia) - 2:07:59
3. Kenneth Kipkemoi (Kenya) - 2:08:07
4. Felix Kandie (Kenya) - 2:08:54
5. Geoffrey Kirui (Kenya) - 2:08:55
6. Philemon Rono (Kenya) - 2:08:57
7. Scott Fauble (U.S.A.) - 2:09:09
8. Jared Ward (U.S.A.) - 2:09:25
9. Festus Talam (Kenya) - 2:09:25
10. Benson Kipruto (Kenya) - 2:09:53
-----
12. Hiroto Inoue (Japan) - 2:11:53
17. Yuki Kawauchi (Japan) - 2:15:29
18. Hayato Sonoda (Japan) - 2:15:58
24. Masao Kizu (Japan) - 2:17:43
28. Hiroki Kai (Japan) - 2:19:31

Women
1. Worknesh Degefa (Ethiopia) - 2:23:31
2. Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) - 2:24:13
3. Jordan Hasay (U.S.A.) - 2:25:20
4. Meskerem Assefa (Ethiopia) - 2:25:40
5. Desiree Linden (U.S.A.) - 2:27:00
6. Caroline Rotich (Kenya) - 2:28:27
7. Mary Ngugi (Kenya) - 2:28:33
8. Biruktayit Eshetu (Ethiopia) - 2:29:10
9. Lindsay Flanagan (U.S.A.) - 2:30:07
10. Betsy Saina (Kenya) - 2:30:32
-----
28. Nami Hashimoto (Japan) - 2:40:41
33. Kaoru Nagao (Japan) - 2:42:07
173. Nao Isaka (Japan) - 3:00:17

text and photos © 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...

Nat'l University Ekiden Updates Here

Looks like I just went over my update limit on Twitter - sorry, it's the first time I've tried to use it for this. I'll look for another option next time. In the meantime I'll add updates to the comments below. Not sure if that has a max too but I guess we'll find out. Update: Part one of the Nationals commentary can be found here .

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