Skip to main content

Weekend Road Race Preview


This weekend sees the last big marathon of the year, the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon. A longtime lesser cousin to the dearly departed Fukuoka International Marathon, Hofu is set to step up in importance after the demise of both Fukuoka and the Saitama International Women's Marathon. The Kobe Marathon may come back, but especially for women Hofu should take on a bigger role on the calendar in the years to come. The women's race is still small at this stage but has some decent talent led by Japan's fastest woman of 2019, Reia Iwade (Adidas). 7-time winner Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) is on the list but tells JRN that she is injured and will not run, instead refocusing on February's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon.

The men's race, featuring pacing by Fukuoka winner Michael Githae (Suzuki) is mostly about whether former Hakone Ekiden uphill great Daichi Kamino (Cell Source) can finally pull off a good marathon. Now coached by Olympian and 2:07 marathoner Arata Fujiwara, Kamino and Githae were training partners throughout the fall along with 2:10:46 teammate Tadashi Suzuki in prep for Kamino to go for the win here. If Kamino is anywhere near Githae in fitness and focus, and Fujiwara tells JRN he is, it could be the breakthrough fans have been hoping for for years. Ser-Od Batochir (Mongolia) and Kenyan Dominic Nyairo (NTT Nishi Nihon) make up the international component of the field, Batochir doubling from a 2:12:06 in Fukuoka two weeks ago at age 40. 100 km world record holder Nao Kazami (Aisan Kogyo) and women's Paralympic marathon gold medalist Misato Michishita (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) are also on the list. JRN will cover the race live on @JRNLive.

The Sanyo Ladies Road Race is always a big year-end blowout for corporate women where most of Japan's sub-1:10 half marathon performances happen. There's a lot of talent on the entry list this time, including 2021 National Corporate Half Marathon winner Yuka Ando (Suzuki) and 3rd-placer Ayari Harada (Daiichi Seimei), Olympic steepler Yuno Yamanaka (Uniqlo), Kenyans Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.), Joanne Kipkemoi (Kyudenko), Winnie Jerotich (Kyudenko) and Martha Mokaya (Canon) and Ethiopians Zeyituba Husan (Denso) and Desta Burka (Denso). Qualifying spots will be on the line for Japan's team for the 2022 World Half Marathon Championships, if they actually happen.

The road 10 km is an unexploited niche in Japanese athletics, mostly viewed as something for high school boys and a transition to the half for women. Kenyans Cynthia Njeri Mbaire (Hitachi), Esther Muthoni (Nitori), Naomi Muthoni Kariuki (Universal Entertainment), Agnes Mukari (Kyocera) and Sheila Cherotich (Meiji Kokusai Iryo Univ.) top the list, but while it's a long one it's light on top-level domestic talent. Chikako Mori (Sekisui Kagaku), 15:21.42 for 5000 m in October, is probably the best of the home crowd in the race.

The National Junior High School Ekiden is also Sunday in Shiga. That might not sound like much, but it is a thing, and it's the only one of the major races scheduled to be streamed live as far as we know. Streaming starts at 10:50 a.m. Sunday local time at the Youtube channel above. Girls will be up at 11:00 and will race a total of 12 km in 5 stages or 2 or 3 km each, with boys tackling 18 km in 6 stages of 3 km apiece starting at 12:15 p.m.

© 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Japan's Olympic Marathon Team Meets the Press

With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao

Weekend Racing Roundup

  China saw a new men's national record of 2:06:57 from  Jie He  at the Wuxi Marathon Sunday, but in Japan it was a relatively quiet weekend with mostly cold and rainy amateur-level marathons across the country. At the Tokushima Marathon , club runner Yuhi Yamashita  won the men's race by almost 4 1/2 minutes in 2:17:02, the fastest Japanese men's time of the weekend, but oddly took 22 seconds to get across the starting line. The women's race saw a close finish between the top two, with Shiho Iwane  winning in 2:49:33 over Ayaka Furukawa , 2nd in 2:49:46.  At the 41st edition of the Sakura Marathon in Chiba, Yukie Matsumura  (Comodi Iida) ran the fastest Japanese women's time of the weekend, 2:42:45, to take the win. Club runner Yuki Kuroda  won the men's race in 2:20:08.  Chika Yokota  won the Saga Sakura Marathon women's race in 2:49:33.  Yuki Yamada  won the men's race in 2:21:47 after taking the lead in the final 2 km.  Naoki Inoue  won the 16th r

Sprinter Shoji Tomihisa Retires From Athletics at 105

A retirement ceremony for local masters track and field legend Shoji Tomihisa , 105, was held May 13 at his usual training ground at Miyoshi Sports Park Field in Miyoshi, Hiroshima. Tomihisa began competing in athletics at age 97, setting a Japanese national record 16.98 for 60 m in the men's 100~104 age group at the 2017 Chugoku Masters Track and Field meet. Last year Tomihisa was the oldest person in Hiroshima selected to run as a torchbearer in the Tokyo Olympics torch relay. Due to the coronavirus pandemic the relay on public roads was canceled, and while he did take part in related ceremonies his run was ultimately canceled. Tomihisa recently took up the shot put, but in light of his fading physical strength he made the decision to retire from competition. Around 30 members of the Shoji Tomihisa Booster Club attended the retirement ceremony. After receiving a bouquet of flowers from them Tomihisa in turn gave them a colored paper placard on which he had written the characters