Skip to main content

Lake Saroma Ultra and Hakodate Half - Hokkaido Road Race Weekend Preview


For the next two months most of Japan's main domestic racing on the roads and track happens up north on Hokkaido. This weekend has two major road races there, the Lake Saroma 100 km and 50 km Ultramarathon, and Hakodate Half Marathon and Marathon. The home of the women's 100 km world record and until last month the men's world record, pending ratification of Lithuanian Aleksandr Sorokin's new mark, Lake Saroma isn't missing any of its usual top-end Japanese talent this year.

After a world record attempt at May's Shibamata 100 km, last year's World Championships gold and silver medalists Haruki Okayama and Jumpei Yamaguchi are both doubling back, along with pending former WR holder Nao Kazami, two-time World Champion Hideaki Yamauchi, and more. Last year's World Championships 6th-placer Miho Nakata leads the women's field, where her main competition is 2018 Lake Saroma winner Mai Fujisawa. There's no real streaming of the race, but a finish line cam will be streaming above starting at 11:00 Sunday local time. Live results will be here.

Also Sunday, the Hakodate Half Marathon has solid field in both the women's and men's races despite some cancelations. In the women's race, women-only marathon NR holder Mao Ichiyama and 30 km NR holder Honami Maeda are lined up for a good head-to-head ahead of October's MGC Race Olympic marathon trials. On the men's side, marathon NR holder Kengo Suzuki and Budapest World Championships marathon team member Kazuya Nishiyama are the two big names, with their main competition coming from 1:01:42 half marathoner Naoki Aiba. Hakodate's marathon division is more of a mass-participation field, with not much info available on who's entered. Live results will be here, at any rate. The half marathon will be broadcast live starting at 8:45 a.m. local time by local broadcaster NCV.

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...
1 comment
Read more

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...
Post a Comment
Read more