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
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance?  Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance.  This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere.  It was put into place in 1986.  In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made.  Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km.  When a bicycle is u...
2 comments
Read more

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...
2 comments
Read more

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 .
77 comments
Read more