First up is the 53rd Hofu Yomiuri Marathon in Yamamguchi at the southwestern tip of Honshu. With the news last year that the Fukuoka International Marathon was ending after 75 years, Hofu was very eager to snap up its traditional date on the first Sunday of December, two weeks earlier than Hofu's usual date. When news broke in the spring that Fukuoka was coming back on its usual date that meant two races of about the same level on the same day.
Starting at 10:40 a.m., Hofu has an all-domestic field fronted by 7 men who ran their PBs at the Miracle at Lake Biwa in 2021, one, Shoma Yamamoto (NTT Nishi Nihon) who did it at the same race a year earlier, and Tokyo Olympics secondary alternate Ryo Hashimoto (GMO). Bib #1 Masato Kikuchi (Konica Minolta) is a scratch, but even if he were still in it the most likely candidate for the win is #3-seeded Tsubasa Ichiyama (Komori Corp.). There's also a very decent women's field fronted by 2:25 Otsuka Seiyaku teammates Ikumi Fukura and Rie Kawauchi. More on the fields here. Hofu's leaderboard is here, and Hulu will stream the race broadcast live. Get your VPNs ready.
Southwest from Hofu in rural Kumamoto, the world's #1 10-miler returns in the town of Kosa. The 47th Kumamoto Kosa 10-Mile Road Race is the last major tune-up race for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden and Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden. You never really know who's going to turn up, but the entry list offers the hope of a tasty matchup between top university men like 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.) and sub-61 half marathoner Ayumu Yamamoto (Koku Gakuin Univ.), 2:06 marathoners like Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) and Yuta Shitara (Honda), and world-class Japan-based Africans like Benard Kibet Koech (Kyudenko) and Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu). It's always fast, there's always the chance the 1984-era NR of 45:40 will fall, and this year it's going to be streamed live on Youtube starting 40 minutes after Hofu at 11:20 a.m. Sunday local time. Live results will be available here.
50 minutes after Kosa kicks off, the Fukuoka International Marathon returns just to the north. It's basically the same event it always been with new major sponsors and an even smaller field. Up front is an international contingent at the 2:05 to 2:07 level featuring last year's 1st and 3rd placers Michael Githae (Suzuki) and James Rungaru (Chuo Hatsujo), 2016 winner Yemane Tsegay (Ethiopia), two-time world champ Abel Kirui (Kenya), 2021 Eindhoven Marathon winner Silas Too (Kenya) and more.
From there there's a gap down to the leading edge of the domestic field that would have been usually filled by the people lining up in Hofu. Daiji Kawai (Toenec) and Kazuma Kubo (Nishitetsu) are the top names with mid-2:08 marks from this year's Tokyo Marathon, but there's potential beyond that. Sub-61 half marathoner Asahi Kasei teammates Takashi Ichida and Kenta Murayama have yet to run a really good marathon, Murayama's best a 2:08:56 from Berlin 2019 and Ichida yet to break 2:12. But Murayama told JRN that he has changed up his training this time and is feeling optimistic. Sub-62 half marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) debuted in 2:09:17 at Beppu-Oita this year and has a bit of a glow of something better being on his horizon.
There's also 59:51 half marathoner and former Ageo City Half Marathon CR holder Vincent Raimoi (Suzuki) making a debut, like Githae now under the coaching of 2:07 marathoner Arata Fujiwara. 59:57 half marathoner Brett Robinson (Australia) is also on the entry list, making a very quick turnaround after a 2:09:52 PB in London on Oct. 2 this year. There are bound to be a few last-minute cancelations announced at Friday's press conference, but there's enough here to feel like Fukuoka's legacy is still in place even though Valencia has taken most of its prestige.
TV Asahi will be broadcasting Fukuoka live starting at noon Sunday local time, although just like old times there doesn't look to be an official stream. Live results can be had here, and JRN will be on-site in Fukuoka throughout the weekend to cover the race on @JRNLive and @JRNHeadlines. Buy us a coffee or two at the link below. Your support makes it all possible.
Comments
Very interested in kumamoto and Fukuoka.
I think there is a very good chance that Miura will show up at Kumamoto as on their website that race is listed on their schedule.
When that happens is usually because they indeed plan to run the race.
If Yamamoto is there and the field is good could be a solid race though i guess that It could be mainly a training run as Miura seems to be slowly increasing race mileage over the weeks.
With Hakone in a month they won't likely push It too much. Same goes for Yamamoto.
But races are races so maybe a spectacular fight takes place :)
Being able to watch it on YouTube Is great.
Thrilles about Fukuoka coming back.
May be time for me to start a month of VPN ahead of Hakone ekiden, i managed to find a streaming for the All Japan (but couldnt find it for Izumo) so region restrictions don't come into play :)