Dec. 20 Hofu Marathon to Go Ahead On Reduced Scale

A rare bit of good news about the Japanese marathon circuit. On Aug. 12 the organizers of the Dec. 20 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon announced that they will go ahead with this year's race as planned with a limited field size. A second-tier elite race with a small mass-participation field, Hofu typically has around 3000 runners in a normal year. This year it will happen with a field size of between 400 and 450.

Hofu's invited elite field is usually a dozen Japan-based male athletes. Along with them, this year's race will include around 100 men and women with Japanese Corporate League Federation registration for 2020, up to 200 male and female residents of Yamaguchi prefecture, where the race takes place, who have cleared four hours in the marathon in the last three years, and up to 100 people who live, work, or go to school in the city of Hofu and who have cleared four hours since 2017. An important race on the para sports circuit, Hofu will also accept an unspecified number of IPC-registered male and female athletes.

Although it shuts out any non-corporate league women who don't live in Yamaguchi, Hofu's decision to go ahead makes it the only remaining option in Japan this year for elite-level women. The Dec. 6 Fukuoka International Marathon has yet to make a public announcement about this year's race, but it is likewise expected to go ahead with a limited field size. Hofu will probably serve to take the overflow men from Fukuoka depending on the final field size that is announced there.

A breakdown of the current situation among Japan's 29 main marathons from October through December, representing over 300,000 finishers total among each race's previous edition, and 2021 announcements:

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) - canceled
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) - canceled
Nov. 22: Tsukuba Marathon (11,461) - canceled
Nov. 23: Fukuchiyama Marathon (6,429) - canceled
Nov. 23: Ohtawara Marathon (1,697) - canceled
Nov. 29: Osaka Marathon (31,594) - canceled
Nov. 29: Mt. Fuji International Marathon (7,200) - canceled
Nov. 29 Nagasaki Peace marathon (1st running, field of 10,000) - canceled
Dec. 6: Shonan International Marathon (16,821) - postponed to Feb. 28, 2021
Dec. 6: Naha Marathon (14,660) - canceled
Dec. 6: Fukuoka International Marathon (370) - TBA
Dec. 13: Saitama International Marathon (13,340) - canceled
Dec. 13: Nara Marathon (11,137) - canceled
Dec. 13: Aoshima Taiheiyo Marathon (8,043) - canceled
Dec. 20: Hofu Marathon (2,724) - scheduled with limited field size
Dec. 20: Mie Matsuzaka Marathon (1st running, field of 7,000) - canceled

2021

Jan. 10 - Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon (10,954) - canceled
Jan. 31 - Katsuta Marathon (10,627) - canceled
January - Osaka International Women's Marathon (423) - TBA
Feb. 14 - Ehime Marathon (9,554) - registrations postponed
Feb. 21 - Kyoto Marathon (13,894) - canceled
Feb. 21 - Kochi Ryoma Marathon (10,924) - scheduled
Feb. 28 - Shonan International Marathon (16,821) - scheduled (rescheduled from Dec. 6)
Feb. 28 - Iwaki Sunshine Marathon (5,259) - scheduled
February - Kumamoto Castle Marathon (10,444) - canceled
February - Kitakyushu Marathon (9,485) - canceled
February - Okinawa Marathon (7,990) - TBA
February - Himeji Castle Marathon (6,938) - TBA
February - Beppu-Oita Marathon (3,141) - TBA
February - Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon (536) - TBA
Mar. 7 - Tokyo Marathon (151) - scheduled
Mar. 14 - Shizuoka Marathon (9,802) - canceled
March - Koga Hanamomo Marathon (8,766) - canceled
March - Kagoshima Marathon (9.356) - TBA
March - Saga Sakura Marathon (8.509) - TBA
March - Sakura Marathon (5,614) - TBA
March - Nagoya Women's Marathon (96) - TBA

© 2020 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Murayama and Sasaki Making U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10 km

Every year since 2012 that there's been a United Airlines NYC Half , JRN has partnered with the NYRR and November's Ageo City Half Marathon to bring two top-tier collegiate Japanese men to the NYC Half for what's usually been their international debuts. For years we've wanted to extend that program to include top collegiate women, but that has always faced 2 problems. For one, while the half marathon distance is the main focus for Japanese collegiate men due to the stage lengths at the Hakone Ekiden, few collegiate women run it. Those that do run the National University Women's Half Marathon in Matsue, held the same day as the NYC Half. This year, though, we're finally making it happen in a slightly different way. Amisa Murayama and Nazuki Sasaki of 2025 Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden national collegiate championship runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University are joining the field for the NYRR's Mastercard New York Mini 10 km on June 6. After running an 18:14 CR ...

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."...

Some Reflections on the Ekiden

by Brett Larner This ekiden season I've had a few thoughts kicking around, and watching this week's Hakone Ekiden a few of them became clearer. These are still in progress, but at the moment this is what I'm thinking in terms of running as a spectator sport and about the quality of Japanese men's distance running right now. Quality: Japanese men's running is coming up very, very quickly. I was in the lead car at November's Ageo City Half Marathon , where 18 men, 17 of them university runners, broke 63 minutes. As it was going on we all thought it was a slow race because there were so many people running that pace all the way, no separation at all in the mass of the pack. See the JRN header photo above, taken just past halfway. That's pretty unusual in Japan, especially at the university level; generally you'll get a handful of guys who run an aggressive pace and a mass running dead on a safe pace, 3:00/km in a half marathon, for example. Th...

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