Skip to main content

Hosoda Runs Fastest-Ever Japanese Women's London Marathon Time

Five elite Japanese athletes were at Sunday's London Marathon. In the women's race, Ai Hosoda (Edion) followed up on her 2:24:26 from Nagoya this spring with a 2:21:42 for 9th, over a minute faster than the previous best-ever by a Japanese woman in Great Britian run 20 years ago in London by the great Reiko Tosa. In Nagoya Hosoda went with the leaders at sub-2:21 pace and faded after 20 km. Here she ran steadily at 2:21 pace and survived to come home with the fastest Japanese time overseas so far this year. Reia Iwade (Adidas) dropped out after 25 km, tweeting later that she had had leg pain that forced her to stop.

In the men's race, 2019 Doha World Championships team member Kohei Futaoka (Chudenko) was the top finisher at 11th in 2:14:18, just ahead of veteran Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku). Futaoka's teammate Naoki Aiba (Chudenko) went out fastest and died hardest, finishing 27th in 2:22:45, one second slower than Tosa's previous Japanese women's GBR-soil record. Complete results here.

© 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Stefan said…
What more can be said, Ai Hosoda ran superbly. Another superb effort from a Japanese women's marathoner after so many last Sunday at Berlin. The depth of talent at the elite level is so even and so deep. Next year's MGC race is going to be such a close battle. Earlier in the year, I would have said we have a battle of 2 between Mao Ichiyama (PB 2:20:29) and Mizuki Matsuda (PB 2:20:52). They have undoubtedly been the 2 consistent standout performers. But now, we have Hitomi Niiya (PB 2:21:17), Yuka Ando (PB 2:21:36), Ai Hosoda (PB 2:21:42), Rika Kaseda (PB 2:21:55), Ayuko Suzuki (PB 2:22:02), and Sayaka Sato (PB 2:22:13) in very close pursuit and I believe if Honami Maeda is able to run a marathon at full fitness we will have her added. I apologize if I have missed anyone that should be included. The MGC race next year will be a very close affair especially as the 'newcomers' Ai Hosoda and Rika Kaseda could have even more improvement ahead of them by race day. I recall how Mao Ichiyama improved dramatically from the MGC race in 2019 (2:24:33) to the Nagoya race in 2020 (2:20:29), all in the space of one year! I'm curious to know what marathon Honami Maeda will be targeting to try and get MGC qualification after she had to withdraw from the Hokkaido race due to COVID.
October 3, 2022 at 8:01 AM
Stefan said…
Honami Maeda just liked a tweet from JAAF regarding the Japan Marathon Championship series in which they have added some marathons to participate for qualification. Perhaps the 53rd Hofu Yomiuri Marathon is the one she will be taking part in? Scheduled for 4 December 2022. It would be great if she could gain qualification this year.
October 4, 2022 at 9:06 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Takeshi Soh Reflects on 54 Years in the Sport on His Retirement as Asahi Kasei Head Coach

After 54 years at the Asahi Kasei corporate team, first as athlete and then as coach, Takeshi Soh will retire at the end of this month. Together with his twin brother Shigeru Soh they formed a duo who were icons of the Japanese marathoning world and went all the way to the Olympics. After retiring from competition Takeshi devoted himself to coaching young athletes and came to play a primary role in the leadership of Japanese long distance. His list of achievements is long, and so is the list of those he influenced and inspired. His twin Shigeru was chosen for three Olympic teams in the marathon, Montreal in 1976, Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984. Takeshi was named to the Moscow and Los Angeles teams, placing 4th in L.A. to confirm his position as one of the greatest names in the sport in that era. After becoming a coach the twins helped lead Hiromi Taniguchi to gold at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships, Koichi Morishita to silver a year later at the Barcelona Olympics, and o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Evaluating the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV Awards

  The JAAF held the award ceremony for its Japan Marathon Championship Series IV last night in Tokyo, the whole thing streamed live on Youtube. The two-year series, in this case running from April, 2023 to March, 2025, scores marathoners on time and place in domestic races and high-level international races, with athletes' two best performances combining to give them their series rankings. Series winners score guaranteed places on the 2025 Tokyo World Championships team , with the top 8 women and men earning prize money: 1st: ¥6,000,000 (~$40,000 USD) 2nd: ¥3,000,000 (~$20,000) 3rd: ¥1,000,000 (~$6,700) 4th: ¥800,000 (~$5,300) 5th: ¥700,000 (~$4,700) 6th: ¥500,000 (~$3,300) 7th: ¥300,000 (~$2,000) 8th: ¥200,000 (~$1,300) Points for time are scored according to World Athletics scoring tables, with placing points based on races' designated level. Given the JAAF's financial interests in the big domestic races and the income stream from their TV broadcasts, the scoring system ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Weekend Road and Track Roundup

A roundup of the main road and track action on the last weekend of Japan's 2024-25 academic and fiscal year: Doubling off a 2:07:06 PB at the Tokyo Marathon 4 weeks ago, Tatsuya Maruyama took bronze at the Asian Marathon Championships in Jiaxing, China in 2:11:56. Gold went to North Korea's Il Ryong Han in a breakaway 2:11:18, with silver medalist Tianyu Chen of China just ahead of Maruyama in 2:11:50. Japan's Shungo Yokota was a distant 4th in 2:14:00, with Japan-based Mongolian NR holder Ser-Od Bat-Ochir 6th in 2:15:14. Japanese women Kaede Kawamura and Natsumi Matsushita were 5th and 6th in 2:31:26 and 2:34:40, with medals going to China's Bing Wu , gold in 2:26:01, North Korea's Kwang-Ok Ri , silver right behind her in 2:26:07, and defending gold medalist Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh landing in bronze this time in 2:28:56, her third sub-2:29 performance so far in 2025. Back home, four men broke 2:20 at the Fukui Sakura Marathon . Ko Kobayashi from the Shi...
1 comment
Read more