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National XC and Osaka Marathon - Weekend Preview


Two big events cap the weekend's Japanese schedule. Just a week after the World Cross Country Championships, the National Cross Country Championships happen Sunday in Fukuoka. At the U20 level most of the top talent ran Worlds last week or is entered in the senior races, leaving deep but not especially strong fields in the U20 women's 6 km and U20 men's 8 km races. 2022 National High School Ekiden girls' winner Nagano Higashi H.S. has its two leading runners from its national title-winning team entered, Kanoko Nawa and Mai Kubota.

Boys' runner-up Saku Chosei H.S., one of the first programs to incorporate cross country training as a major part of its regimen, is a notable presence in the U20 men's race with 25 athletes entered including ekiden team members Soma Nagahara, Shumpei Yamaguchi and Kazuma Shino. Boys' national champ Kurashiki H.S. is giving it a miss.

The senior women's race is thin on top-tier talent, the biggest names being Chika Kosakai and Yuna Wada from 2022 National Corporate Women's Ekiden 3rd-placer Japan Post. Marathoner Haruka Yamaguchi has withdrawn to focus on her preparations for April's Boston Marathon.

Saku Chosei's star runner, 5000 m high school NR holder Hiroto Yoshioka, is entered in the senior men's 10 km, but given his finish line collapse at Worlds last week it'd be pretty surprising to see him on the starting line in Fukuoka. In contrast to Worlds, where the senior Japanese men barely beat Papua New Guinea to finish 12th of 13 teams, the senior men's 10 km looks like it could be the race of the day if people turn up. An interesting mix of names like 3000 m SC NR holder Ryuji Miura, former Hakone Ekiden uphill star Daichi Kamino, Rikkyo University head coach Yuichiro Ueno, 5000 m Olympian Yuta Bando, steeple Olympian Kazuya Shiojiri and more would make for a pretty entertaining race.

Streaming of the National Cross Country Championships starts at 10:40 a.m. local time, with the first race, the U20 women's 6 km, starting at 12:50 p.m. The complete meet schedule is here.

Also Sunday is the Osaka Marathon. 2:20:18 Kenyan Vivian Kiplagat leads a women's field perfectly set up for 2:25-level teammates and Olympic trials qualifiers Ikumi Fukura and Rie Kawauchi to try to make the jump to 2:23. 2:04 Ethiopians Hailemaryam Kiros and Abayneh Degu lead the men's field, which features athletes of at least ten nationalities. The heavy dose of people at the 2:05~2:06 level telegraphs where the top Japanese men will be aiming, with both 2:07:05 man Toshiki Sadakata and Tokyo Olympian Yuma Hattori saying they are going for something in the 2:06 range. Hattori hasn't run a good marathon since finishing 2nd at the 2019 MGC Race Olympic marathon trials, so his shot here will be one of the main story lines.

A deeper look at the Osaka field can be found here. NHK will be broadcasting the race live nationwide and commercial-free starting at 9:00 a.m. local time. Official streaming will be on NHK Plus, which should work if you have a VPN. Mov3.co is also a free option. JRN will be covering the race live on @JRNLive.

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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