Kanakuri Memorial and More - Weekend Preview

Outdoor track season gets moving this weekend with at least three competitive meets across the country. The Hokuriku Region Corporate Championships in Niigata and Chugoku Corporate Time Trials in Hiroshima are solidly in the second tier, but the main event happens Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet. Streaming of Kanaguri starts at 15:30 local time above, with the main races happening later in the evening. Meet schedule and start lists here.

Both the men's and women's 1500 m feature three of Japan's all-time top five. The men's race is slightly stronger, with NR holder Kazuki Kawamura (Toenec), all-time #3 Nanami Arai (Honda) and #4 Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.). The women's race has NR holder Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance), #3 Ran Urabe (Sekisui Kagaku) and #5 Yume Goto (Uniqlo).

Two others in the Japanese men's 1500 m all-time top ten, #6 Keita Sato (Komazawa Univ.) and #10 Yuta Bando (Fujitsu), are opting for the 5000 m. Just back from altitude training in Boulder, U20 NR holder Sato will face H.S. NR holder Hiroto Yoshioka (Juntendo Univ.) in Yoshioka's college debut and first race since collapsing on the finish line at February's World XC Championships, and 11 of the best Japan-based Kenyans. Five of the other best collegiate men are opting for the B-heat, which will feature Mebuki Suzuki (Komazawa Univ.), Shotaro Ishihara (Tokai Univ.), Yamato Yoshii (Chuo Univ.), Tomonori Yamaguchi (Waseda Univ.) and Taishi Ito (Waseda Univ.).

The women's 5000 m is also heavy on Japan-based Kenyan talent, including sub-15 runners Eva Cherono (Toto), Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo), Naomi Muthoni (Universal) and Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera). Last year's 8th-fastest Japanese woman Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) is the top domestic entry, but Minami Yamanouchi (Shimamura) is also in the field as she rebuilds her career in her second season at the Shimamura team.

Top-level Kenyans like Rodgers Kwemoi (Aisan Kogyo) and Vincent Yegon (Honda) lead the men's 10000 m which is heavy on marathoners who've qualified for October's Paris Olympic marathon trials. Kento Kikutani (Toyota Boshoku), Minato Oishi (Toyota), Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku), Yuki Sato (SGH) and Tatsuya Maruyama (Toyota) fill that category, with interesting additions from fastest-ever Japanese collegiate half marathoner Kotaro Shinohara (Komazawa Univ.) and former H.S. 5000 m NR holder Kosuke Ishida (Toyo Univ.).

Mao Uesugi (Starts) is the only Olympic trials marathoner in the women's 10000 m, where her main competition is 1:07:56 half marathoner Dolphine Omare (U.S.E.) and last year's 7th-fastest Japanese woman Wakana Itsuki (Kyudenko). JRN will be on-site at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet to cover it live on Twitter and Instagram.

2026 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field

The Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon has great fields this year, so let's get right to it. The women's field has 3 of last year's top 10, winner for the 2nd year in a row and Tokyo CR holder Sutume Asefa Kebede , 3rd-placer and 2025 Chicago winner Hawi Feysa , and 5th-placer and 2025 Berlin winner Rosemary Wanjiru , plus 2024 Valencia winner Megertu Alemu , 2025 Prague winner Bertukan Welde , 2024 Paris winner Mestawut Fikir , 2024 Osaka winner Waganesh Mekasha , former WR holder Brigid Kosgei , and a lot more. Japanese hopes pretty much go to all-time #7 Ai Hosoda , 2:20:31 in Berlin 2024 but who announced this month that she is retiring after Tokyo despite having qualified for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th in Sydney last year. Other internationals include Canadian Malindi Elmore , American Sara Hall , a big Chinese group led by Yuyu Xia , Poland's Aleksandra Brzezińska and Australian Vanessa Wilson . The men's race has 5 of last year's top 1...

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance? Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance. This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere. It was put into place in 1986. In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made. Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km. When a bicycle is u...

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...

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