Three Japanese men ran Sunday's Amsterdam Marathon,
Yuki Sato (SG Holdings) in pursuit of a faster time than his 2:08:17 best, and
Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) and
Akira Tomiyasu (Aisan Kogyo) looking for times that would get them inside the cut for next year's 2024 Olympic marathon trials.
Sato went out with the lead group on 2:04 pace through 15 km before falling off, hitting halfway in 1:03:10 and 30 km in 1:33:33. Just past 40 km he dropped out after hitting it in 2:14:19.
Dairokuno, who needed to run 2:09:49 to score trials qualification, went through halfway in 1:04:33 before overtaking Sato and clocking 1:31:49 at 30 km. Unable to sustain that, he finished 21st in 2:12:38.
Tomiyasu had the most modest goal, only needing to run 2:11:05 to clear the trials standards. 1:04:56 at halfway and 1:31:59 at 30 km, he briefly caught up to Dairokuno before struggling after the lefthand turn into the strong headwind at 35 km. He ultimately finished 24th in 2:15:21, over a minute faster than his performance at last year's New York City Marathon but far off what he needed to secure a place at the trials. Both Dairokuno and Tomiyasu will now refocus on hitting their qualification times at a domestic marathon early next year in advance of the end of May deadline.
text and photos © 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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