Hakodate and Shimada Oikawa Marathons Canceled

Following yesterday's cancelation of the Nov. 8 Fukuoka Marathon, two other large Japanese marathons did the same before the start of the Golden Week public holidays. The July 5 Hakodate Marathon and Half Marathon, with 3678 half marathon finishers and winning times of 1:02:19 and 1:08:49, and 3449 marathon finishers last year, announced on its website on Apr. 28 that it was canceling for the safety of participants, staff, volunteers and spectators. Organizers said that anyone entered this year would be able to defer their entry to the July 4, 2021 edition of the race free of charge, while anyone unable to run next year would receive their participants' t-shirt, finisher's towel, and other goods from this year's race. Details on deferral of entry will be posted on the race website at the beginning of September.

Also on Apr. 28, the Oct. 25 Shimada Oikawa Marathon, with 6589 marathon finishers and 1685 finishers in its accompanying 10 km last year, likewise announced on its website that it was canceling this year's 12th edition. Like Fukuoka, Shimada Oikawa was one of the many October/November marathons to have earlier postponed opening registrations, in its case delaying from Apr. 15 to June 1, but, citing the continued spread of the coronavirus and the impossibility of having any certainty about what conditions will be like this fall, organizers made the decision to pull the plug.

As it currently stands, Japan's fall marathon season it looking like this. Numbers are full marathon finisher totals last time. Most of these races had thousands more participants in additional shorter races.

Oct. 4: Tohoku Miyagi Fukko Marathon (7,457) - scheduled
Oct. 4: Matsumoto Marathon (6,455)- scheduled, final decision in early May
Oct. 18: Chiba Aqualine Marathon (9,541) - canceled
Oct. 25: Kanazawa Marathon (10,408) - entries suspended
Oct. 25: Mito Komon Marathon (9,995) - canceled
Oct. 25: Shimada Oikawa Marathon (6,589) - canceled
Oct. 25: Iwate Morioka City Marathon (5,729) - scheduled
Nov. 1: Yokohama Marathon (25,195) - scheduled, final decision by May 14
Nov. 1: Toyama Marathon (12,603) - entries suspended
Nov. 8: Fukuoka Marathon (11,349) - canceled
Nov. 15: Kobe Marathon (19,444) - scheduled, lottery results TBA on June 16
Nov. 22: Tsukuba Marathon (11,461) - canceled
Nov. 23: Ohtawara Marathon (1,697) - canceled
Nov. 29: Osaka Marathon (31,594) - entries suspended
Nov. 29 Nagasaki Peace marathon (1st running, field of 10,000) - scheduled
Dec. 6: Shonan International Marathon (16,821) - TBA
Dec. 6: Naha Marathon (14,660) - entries suspended until early July
Dec. 6: Fukuoka International Marathon (370) - TBA
Dec. 13: Saitama International Marathon (13,340) - canceled
Dec. 13: Nara Marathon (11,137) - scheduled
Dec. 20: Hofu Marathon (2,724) - TBA

Updates forthcoming as the situation develops. I want to be optimistic, but in the same way that the Tokyo Marathon, along with Hong Kong and Chinese races, ended up being foreshadowing what was going to happen everywhere else this spring, the list above is probably a pretty good indication of what to expect elsewhere this fall. Let's hope for the best.

© 2020 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

The Ivy League at the Izumo Ekiden in Review

Last week I was contacted by Will Geiken , who I'd met years ago when he was a part of the Ivy League Select Team at the Izumo Ekiden . He was looking for historical results from Izumo and lists of past team members, and I was able to put together a pretty much complete history, only missing the alternates from 1998 to 2010 and a little shaky on the reverse transliterations of some of the names from katakana back into the Western alphabet for the same years. Feel free to send corrections or additions to alternate lists. It's interesting to go back and see some names that went on to be familiar, to see the people who made an impact like Princeton's Paul Morrison , Cornell's Max King , Stanford's Brendan Gregg in one of the years the team opened up beyond the Ivy League, Cornell's Ben de Haan , Princeton's Matt McDonald , and Harvard's Hugo Milner last year, and some of the people who struggled with the format. 1998 Team: 15th of 21 overall, 2:14:10 (43

Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes - Weekend Road Roundup

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was back to running performances consistent with his other PBs with a 1:02:30 for 8th. His AGU teammate Kyosuke Hiramatsu was 10th in 1:04:00. Women's winner Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) also set a new CR in 1:09:57. Aoyama Gakuin runners took the top four spots in the men's half marathon at the Aomori Sakura Marathon , with Hakone alternate Kosei Shiraishi getting the win in 1:04:32 and B-team members Shunto Hamakawa and Kei Kitamura 2nd and 3rd in 1:04:45 and 1:04:48. Club runners took the other division titles, Hina Shinozaki winning the women's half

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that Sis

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