Okayama and Maruichi Win Shibamata 100 km

2022 100 km World Championships gold medalist Haruki Okayama (Comodi Iida) and club runner Akiko Maruichi (GRlab) took the top spots in the Shibamata 100 km ultramarathon in Tokyo, Saitama and Ibaraki. The men's race was set up as an aggressive shot at the first-ever sub-6-hour time, with three pacers leading a group including Okayama, '22 silver medalist Jumpei Yamaguchi (Eldoreso), 5th-placer Guillaume Ruel (France), sub-2:10 marathoner Jo Fukuda (Hoka) and others out at a pace of around 3:34/km. Yamaguchi survived the longest at that pace, holding it until almost 70 km before starting to slow. Okayama, who had fallen off pace after 50 km, passed him not long past 80 km and pushed on to win in 6:23:16.

Yamaguchi, Ruel and Fukuda all DNFd, Fukuda after only 50 km, Ruel after 60 km, and Yamaguchi not making it to 90 km. Having ignored the early fast pace and stuck to a steady 4:00/km, Masato Takahashi (Track Tokyo) was 2nd in 6:43:01. Veteran Hideo Nojo (Mitsui Fudosan) went out at around 3:45/km and held it until almost 40 km before slowing, finishing 3rd just behind Takahashi in 6:43:53. Along with Okayama, Ryoya Takabayashi, Masato Tanaka and Masato Namai all survived the lead group's pace to finish, Takabayashi taking 4th, Tanaka 6th and Namai 7th.

Maruichi was alone from the gun, starting out at around 4:25/km and speeding up at fast as 4:18/km before slowing to finish 8th overall in 7:53:16 for the women's win and improving on her runner-up performance two years ago by over 20 minutes. Aiko Kanematsu (Team Oligol) and Yuka Adachi (Honjo RC) started off together closer to 4:30/km, Kanematsu ending up 2nd in 7:58:27 and Adachi 3rd in 8:40:31. 4th-placer Yuka Seki was the only other woman to go under 10 hours at 9:15:31.

Shibamata 100 km Ultramarathon

Tokyo, Saitama, Ibaraki, 21 May 2023

complete results

Men

1. Haruki Okayama (Comodi Iida) - 6:23:16

2. Masato Takahashi (Track Tokyo) - 6:43:01

3. Hideo Nojo (Mitsui Fudosan) - 6:43:53

4. Ryoya Takabayashi - 6:58:42

5. Naoki Kawashima - 7:16:43

6. Masato Tanaka - 7:18:54

7. Masato Namai - 7:28:17

-----

DNF - Jo Fukuda (Hoka)

DNF - Guillaume Ruel (France)

DNF - Jumpei Yamaguchi (Eldoreso)

Women

1. Akiko Maruichi (GRlab) - 7:53:16

2. Aiko Kanematsu (Team Algol) - 7:58:27

3. Yuka Adachi (Honjo RC) - 8:40:31

4. Yuka Seki - 9:15:31

Japan's First Goldless Day - Asian Athletics Championships Day Four Highlights

Day 4 of the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships was the first without a single gold medal going to Japan, but there were still enough silvers and bronzes to go around. Robyn Lauren Brown of the Philippines outclassed the rest of the women's 400 mH final field, taking gold in 57.50. Eri Utsunomiya and Ami Yamamoto made it a Japanese 2-3, Utsunomiya running 57.73 for silver and Yamamoto 57.80 for bronze. Yusaku Kodama also scored silver in the men's 400 mH, running 48.96 behind Qatari winner Bassem Hemeida 's 48.64. Yuki Yamasaki won bronze in the heptathlon with 5696 points, Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Voronina taking gold in 6098 and Swapna Barman silver in 5840. Teammate Karin Odama was 4th in 5487. Another bronze came in the mixed 4x400 m relay, with Japan running 3:15.71 behind India's 3:14.70 and Sri Lanka's 3:15.41. Naoto Hasegawa and Ryoichi Akamatsu both cleared 2.23 m in the men's high jump, Hasegawa finishing 4th overall and Akamatsu 5th. ...

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