Skip to main content

MGC Race Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier Profile - Kohei Ogino

Kohei Ogino

age: 29
sponsor: Fujitsu
graduated from: Chiben H.S., Koku Gakuin University

best time inside MGC window:
2:09:36, 12th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon

PB: 2:09:36, 12th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon

other PBs:
5000 m: 14:14.12 (2011) 10000 m: 28:56.00 (2010) half marathon: 1:03:18 (2011)

marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019)
9th, 2019 Hamburg Marathon, 2:10:15
DNF, 2019 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon
18th, 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:16:04
12th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon, 2:09:36
41st, 2017 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:24:55

other major results:
10th, 2019 Niigata Half Marathon, 1:03:27
16th, 2017 Beppu-Oita Marathon, 2:15:10
21st, 2016 Lake Biwa Marathon, 2:17:14
3rd, 2015 Nagano Marathon, 2:11:42
3rd, 2015 Ome 30 km Road Race, 1:33:42

Repping Shibuya's Koku Gakuin University, Ogino’s marathon career started off well enough with a 3rd-place finish at the 2015 Ome 30 km as a tune-up for that year’s Nagano Marathon, where he was also 3rd in 2:11:42. He had his ups and downs for the next two years, but when he dropped a 2:09:36 at the 2018 Tokyo Marathon he looked like a lock to make the MGC Race on the two-race sub-2:11 qualifying option, needing to run 2:12:24 and having over a year to do it.

But in Fukuoka last year he ran only 2:16:04, and when he got into trouble at the Beppu-Oita Marathon two months later he made the choice to drop out. The problems proved relatively minor, and he quickly turned it around to run just off his half marathon PB at March’s Niigata Half and then 2:10:15 in Hamburg in April.

And with that he was in alongside Fujitsu corporate teammates Shogo Nakamura and Kengo Suzuki to make Fujitsu one of the best-represented teams in the MGC field with three qualifiers. Ogino spent time this summer training on the MGC and Olympic course with Suzuki at the exact time the Olympic marathon will be held next year, so while it’s a long shot that he’d be in the real running for the team you know that he is going there as well-prepared as he can be.

next profile: Hayato Sonoda (Kurosaki Harima).

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

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 .

Keita Satoh Running New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile

1500 m U20 NR holder Keita Satoh (Nike Swoosh TC) is running this weekend's New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile , the first time that a Japanese man has been invited in the race's 45-year history. In university Sato had to change focus away from middle distance to the half marathon-scale lengths of the Hakone Ekiden stages, but since graduating in March and relocating to Flagstaff he has refocused on the 1500 m, going from 3:43.19 in April in his first 1500 m in almost 4 years to 3:38.30 over the course of 5 races. Fifth Avenue will be his last race before heading back to Japan for one more track 1500 m and some down time. Men's entries with best 1500 m times in last 3 years: Stefan Nillessen (NED) - 3:29.23 (2025) Flavien Szot (FRA) - 3:30.74 (2025) Oliver Hoare (AUS) - 3:31.07 (2024) Jake Heyward (GBR) - 3:31.18 (2026) Titouan Le Grix (FRA) - 3:31.46 (2026) Romain Mornet (FRA) - 3:31.62 (2025) Adam Spencer (AUS) - 3:31.83 (2026) Pieter Sisk (BEL) - 3:31.85 (2025) Gary Martin (...

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."...