MGC Race Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier

MGC Race Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier - Ryo Hashimoto

Ryo Hashimoto

age: 25
sponsor: GMO
graduated from: Oita Nishi H.S., Aoyama Gakuin University

best time inside MGC window:
2:09:29, 5th, 2019 Beppu-Oita Marathon

PB: 2:09:29, 5th, 2019 Beppu-Oita Marathon

other PBs:
5000 m: 13:57.91 (2016) 10000 m: 28:35.37 (2019) half marathon: 1:02:55 (2019)

marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019)
5th, 2019 Beppu-Oita Marathon, 2:09:29 – PB
9th, 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:11:40

other major results:
7th, 2019 HDC Fukagawa Meet 10000 m B-Race, 28:35.37 – PB
4th, 2019 Sendai International Half Marathon, 1:02:55 – PB
4th, 2018 Year-End Half Marathon, 1:03:31
4th, 2017 Gold Coast Marathon, 2:10:19
20th, 2017 Tokyo Marathon, 2:13:29
1st, 2016 Hofu Marathon, 2:11:20
23rd, 2016 Tokyo Marathon, 2:14:38

Hashimoto is totally unique in the MGC men’s field, someone who went to a Hakone Ekiden champion university but never made its starting roster for Japan’s biggest race. A benchwarmer for four-time Hakone winner Aoyama Gakuin University, he watched from the sidelines as AGU won its first two titles his third and fourth years. As a substitute, he ran his first marathon just before graduating, running a decent 2:14:38 at the Tokyo Marathon.

Hashimoto joined other AGU runners at the new GMO corporate team post-graduation, and something unusual started to happen. In his second marathon he won Hofu in 2:11:20. Seven months later, a 2:10:19 for 4th at the Gold Coast Marathon. This spring, a 2:09:29 for 5th on home ground at the Beppu-Oita Marathon that made him the fastest AGU grad ever.

That was enough to get him into the MGC Race, and, notably, of the four AGU runners to qualify, including Hakone stage winners Daichi Kamino and Takuya Fujikawa and National University Half Marathon champ Tadashi Isshiki, it made him the only one to qualify outright instead of through the two-race sub-2:11 average option. Since then he’s run 10000 m and half marathon PBs. With the MGC entry list above him paved with bigtime Hakone stars it’s hard to imagine him really competing in the front end of the race, but who knows? Who could’ve imagined he’d come this far?

Next profile: Daisuke Uekado (Otsuka Seiyaku).

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

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

japan running news

Search This Blog