Tohoku Miyagi Fukko Marathon and Toyama Marathon Canceled

On the last business day of May four of the remaining fall Japanese marathons made announcements about their events' futures in the face of coronavirus crisis. The Oct. 4 Tohoku Miyagi Fukko Marathon, 7.457 finishers in its second edition two years ago and canceled last year due to a typhoon, announced the cancelation of this year's race. In their announcement the organizers said that while they did not want to cancel for the second year in a row, they felt that the options available to them for going ahead with the race would deviate too far from the race's mission of building contact between runners and local residents still rebuilding from the 2011 tsunami. All entry fees will be refunded.

Held in the only prefecture in Japan not to have found a single case of coronavirus infection to date, the Oct. 25 Iwate Morioka Marathon, 5,729 finishers last year announced that it is stepping back from its plans to go ahead as scheduled. Race organizers said that they would make a final decision by the end of June and make an official announcement at that point.

The biggest of the four races to make an announcement at 12,603 finishers last year, the Toyama Marathon extended its earlier suspension of registrations by canceling this year's Nov. 1 edition. Organizers said that while expert opinion was that outdoor events could be reasonably staged with a distance of 2 m between participants, the organizers did not feel it would be possible to do this in the starting corrals and pre- and post-race areas.

A new event this year with a planned field of 7,000, like Toyama the Dec. 20 Mie Matsuzaka Marathon had earlier suspended registrations. It has now updated its status to match Iwate's, saying that a final decision as to whether it can go ahead will be made by the end of June.

As of right now, among Japan's 27 main October to December marathons, those with 5,000 or more finishers or elite-level winning times, representing almost 285,000 finishers total in their last editions, and 2 new races with fields of 7,000 and 10,000, 17 have now canceled. Seven remain in limbo with entries suspended, three will make decisions in a month's time and two have yet to make any public statement. Among those that have not yet canceled, organizers of one race have told JRN privately that their event is expected to either cancel or reschedule for next year, while the organizers of another have told us that their race hopes at best to go ahead with no elite field and a reduced mass-participation field restricted to locals. A breakdown of the current situation:

Oct. 4: Tohoku Miyagi Fukko Marathon (7,457) - canceled
Oct. 4: Matsumoto Marathon (6,455)- canceled
Oct. 11: Niigata City Marathon (6,784) - canceled
Oct. 18: Chiba Aqualine Marathon (9,541) - canceled
Oct. 25: Kanazawa Marathon (10,408) - canceled
Oct. 25: Mito Komon Marathon (9,995) - canceled
Oct. 25: Shimada Oikawa Marathon (6,589) - canceled
Oct. 25: Iwate Morioka City Marathon (5,729) - TBA by end of June
Nov. 1: Yokohama Marathon (25,195) - canceled
Nov. 1: Toyama Marathon (12,603) - canceled
Nov. 1: Shimonoseki Kaikyo Marathon (8,650) - canceled
Nov. 8: Okayama Marathon (13,491) - canceled
Nov. 8: Fukuoka Marathon (11,349) - canceled
Nov. 8: Ibigawa Marathon (5,818) - canceled
Nov. 15: Kobe Marathon (19,444) - TBA by June 16
Nov. 22: Tsukuba Marathon (11,461) - canceled
Nov. 23: Fukuchiyama Marathon (6,429) - entries suspended until late June
Nov. 23: Ohtawara Marathon (1,697) - canceled
Nov. 29: Osaka Marathon (31,594) - entries suspended
Nov. 29: Fujisan Marathon (7,200) - entries suspended until late June
Nov. 29 Nagasaki Peace marathon (1st running, field of 10,000) - canceled
Dec. 6: Shonan International Marathon (16,821) - entries suspended
Dec. 6: Naha Marathon (14,660) - entries suspended until August
Dec. 6: Fukuoka International Marathon (370) - TBA
Dec. 13: Saitama International Marathon (13,340) - canceled
Dec. 13: Nara Marathon (11,137) - entries suspended
Dec. 13: Aoshima Taiheiyo Marathon (8,043) - entries suspended until August
Dec. 20: Hofu Marathon (2,724) - TBA
Dec. 20: Mie Matsuzaka Marathon (1st running, field of 7,000) - TBA by end of June

© 2020 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
photo © 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...

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