Skip to main content

Elite Field for Final Lake Biwa Marathon

As the only game in town for its final running before being swallowed up by the Osaka Marathon's platinum ambitions, the Feb. 28 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon has put together the best field in its history. Times in the last three years don't mean what they used to, but even so Lake Biwa has 2 men sub-2:07, 7 sub-2:08, 13 sub-2:09, 25 sub-2:10, 40 sub-2:11 and 53 sub-2:12, all Japanese but one, Japan-based Kenyan Simon Kariuki (Togami Denki). 

Among them are 2:06 men Ryu Takaku (Yakult) and Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko), half marathon national record holder Yusuke Ogura (Yakult), 2019 Fukuoka winner Taku Fujimoto (Toyota), Tokyo Olympics marathon trials winner Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu), 100 km world record holder Nao Kazami (Aisan Kogyo) and many, many more. And there are at least another 7 men with half marathon bests under 62 minutes making debuts or trying to finish a marathon for the first time, notably university ekiden star Shunya Kikuchi (Josai Univ.) and 2017 World University Games half marathon gold medalist Kei Katanishi (JR Higashi Nihon).

Lake Biwa often ends up not being as fast as it looks on paper, but with a field like this and pacers including sub-60 Kenyan James Rungaru (Chuo Hatsujo) and former Komazawa University teammates Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) and Shinobu Kubota (Toyota) it should be on for something good if the weather cooperates. NHK will be broadcasting the whole thing live, nationwide and commercial-free starting at 9:00 a.m. local time on the 28th. Let's hope Lake Biwa wraps its 76 years with a bang

76th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon

Otsu, Shiga, 28 Feb. 2021
times listed are best in last three years except where noted

Ryu Takaku (Yakult) - 2:06:45 (Tokyo 2020)
Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) - 2:06:54 (Tokyo 2018)
Yusuke Ogura (Yakult) - 207:23 (Tokyo 2020)
Yuta Shimoda (GMO) - 2:07:27 (Tokyo 2020)
Masato Kikuchi (Konica Minolta) - 2:07:31 (Tokyo 2020)
Simon Kariuki (Kenya/Togami Denki) - 2:07:56 (Tokyo 2020)
Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) - 2:07:57 (Chicago 2018)
Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) - 2:08:16 (Berlin 2018) - withdrawn due to injury
Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:08:37 (Tokyo 2020)
Shohei Kurata (GMO) - 2:08:44 (Tokyo 2020)
Taku Fujikawa (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:08:45 (Tokyo 2020)
Yuji Iwata (Mitsubishi Juko) - 2:08:45 (Tokyo 2020)
Minato Oishi (Toyota) - 2:08:52 (Tokyo 2020)
Takuya Fukatsu (Asahi Kasei) - 2:09:06 (Beppu-Oita 2020)
Kento Kikutani (Toyota Boshoku) - 2:09:07 (Beppu-Oita 2020)
Kohei Futaoka (Chudenko) - 2:09:15 (Beppu-Oita 2019)
Shoma Yamamoto (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:09:18 (Lake Biwa 2020)
Yuki Kawauchi (Nissei) - 2:09:21 (Lake Biwa 2019)
Shoya Okuno (Toyota Kyushu) - 2:09:28 (Lake Biwa 2020)
Ryo Hashimoto (GMO) - 2:09:29 (Beppu-Oita 2019)
Tatsuya Maruyama (Yachiyo Kogyo) - 2:09:36 (Hofu 2020)
Kohei Ogino (Fujitsu) - 2:09:36 (Tokyo 2018)
Kenya Sonota (JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:09:50 (Lake Biwa 2020)
Hidekazu Hijikata (Honda) - 2:09:50 (Tokyo 2020)
Koji Kobayashi (Subaru) - 2:09:55 (Beppu-Oita 2020)
Kento Otsu (Toyota Kyushu) - 2:10:01 (Beppu-Oita 2020)
Koki Yoshioka (Chuo Hatsujo) - 2:10:13 (Lake Biwa 2020)
Asuka Tanaka (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 2:10:13 (Tokyo 2018)
Takuya Noguchi (Konica Minolta) - 2:10:15 (Gold Coast 2018)
Daichi Kamino (Cell Source) - 2:10:18 (Tokyo 2018)
Junichi Tsubouchi (Kurosaki Harima) - 2:10:19 (Beppu-Oita 2020)
Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:10:19 (Beppu-Oita 2019)
Kensuke Horio (Toyota) - 2:10:21 (Tokyo 2019)
Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu) - 2:10:21 (Tokyo 2018)
Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Konica Minolta) - 2:10:33 (Lake Biwa 2019)
Yoshihiro Nishizawa (Komori Corp.) - 2:10:37 (Hofu 2020)
Takuma Shibata (Komori Corp.) - 2:10:48 (Hofu 2020)
Shoya Osaki (Chudenko) - 2:10:48 (Beppu-Oita 2019)
Daiji Kawai (Toenec) - 2:10:50 (Lake Biwa 2019)
Taiga Ito (Suzuki) - 2:10:59 (Fukuoka Int'l 2019)
Yusei Tsutsumi (JFE Steel) - 2:11:07 (Tokyo 2020)
Kazuya Azegami (Toyota) - 2:11:15 (Hofu 2020)
Yuichi Okutani (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:11:16 (Beppu-Oita 2020)
Toshinori Watanabe (GMO) - 2:11:17 (Katsuta 2020)
Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:19 (Tokyo 2020)
Ryoma Takeuchi (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 2:11:20 (Beppu-Oita 2019)
Yoshiyuki Hara (Gotemba Takigahara SDF Base) - 2:11:21 (Hofu 2020)
Takuma Kumagai (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:11:23 (Fukuoka Int'l 2020)
Takumi Kiyotani (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:11:24 (Beppu-Oita 2019)
Kazuki Takeshita (SDF Academy) - 2:11:36 (Tokyo 2020)
Madoka Tanihara (Osaka Police) - 2:11:39 (Lake Biwa 2020)
Yuki Takamiya (Yakult) - 2:11:48 (Tokyo 2020)
Yuki Nakamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:11:58 (Beppu-Oita 2020)
Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 2:12:13 (Tokyo 2020)
Nao Kazami (Aisan Kogyo) - 2:13:13 (Tokyo 2020)

Debut / First Finish
Edward Waweru (Kenya/NTN) - 1:00:31 (Marugame Half 2018)
Ryota Sato (Tokyo Police) - 1:01:01 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2020)
Shunya Kikuchi (Josai Univ.) - 1:01:45 (Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai Half 2020)
Daisuke Doi (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:01:50 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2020)
Kei Katanishi (JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:01:50 (Nat'l Univ. Half 2018)
Kazuki Uemura (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:01:51 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2020)
Shoya Kurokawa (JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:01:55 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2020)

© 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Andrew Armiger said…
Ooh, looking forward to this!
February 11, 2021 at 2:48 AM
Cresh said…
Hello,
I'm collecting information about old marathon training in 1920s & 1930s.Actually i looking for information about Japanese training from this period. I know, they propably just walking a lot, like everyone else then, but maybe you don't have any articles / books about this theme? unfortunately I don't know Japanese and I couldn't find anything in English.
Thanks
February 15, 2021 at 5:17 PM
Brett Larner said…
There isn't much available in English, unfortunately.
February 18, 2021 at 7:51 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...
2 comments
Read more

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...
Post a Comment
Read more

JAAF Announces Marathon Teams for Nagoya Asian Games

On Mar. 25 the JAAF announced Japan's marathon team lineups for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games. Yuya Yoshida (GMO) and Ichitaka Yamashita (Mitsubishi Juko) make up the men's team, with Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku) and Mikuni Yada (Edion) representing Japan in the women's marathon. Each country can field up to 2 men and 2 women per marathon team at the Asian Games. The top-ranked male and female athletes in the 2025-26 MGC Series rankings were given first priority, with the second slots going to people with high-level performances in the 2025-26 MGC Series. Yoshida ran 2:05:16 to win the 2024 Fukuoka International Marathon, and at February's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon ran an excellent 2:06:59 to take the top Japanese spot in the race and in the MGC rankings. After having run the Tokyo World Championships marathon last fall this will be his second-straight marathon national team in a major international championships. Yamashita ran 2:06:18 at February's Osak...
Post a Comment
Read more