Fukuoka, Hofu and Kosa - Weekend Road Preview

Sunday is a big day for road racing in Japan, with three major races, the Fukuoka International Marathon, Hofu Yomiuri Marathon and Kumamoto Kosa 10-Mile Road Race all happening. Even before them there's a big event Saturday, a one-day mini edition of the Nittai University Time Trials track meet in Yokohama with a large number of people who raced last weekend's Hachioji Long Distance meet or Queens Ekiden on the start lists.

Fukuoka is really the main event, set up to try to get one runner, 2:06:35 man Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima), to the 2:05:50 he needs to steal the third spot on the Paris Olympic team from the 3rd-placer at October's Olympic marathon trials, former NR holder Suguru Osako (GMO). Hosoya fell in the trials and dropped out. Since then he's run well in shorter races and doesn't seem to have any lingering damage, but considering that he's never broken 2:08 again since his 2:06:35 at the Miracle at Lake Biwa in 2021 it'd be a stretch for him to pull the time standard off. And with no other sub-2:10 Japanese men in the field it really is all up to him.

Ethiopian Abebe Negewo Degefa is the only runner in the field to have run under 2:05:50 recently, with Kenyans Bethel Yegon and Abel Kirui at the 2:06 level and Vincent Raimoi (Kenya/Suzuki), Zerei Kbrom Mezngi (Norway), Michael Githae (Kenya/Suzuki), Brett Robinson (Australia), Bethwell Kipkemboi Ruto (Kenya) and Shaohui Yang (China) at 2:07. Past champ Sondre Nordstad Moen (Norway) is also in the race. TV Asahi will be broadcasting Fukuoka live via local affiliate KBC starting at 12:00 noon local time. More on the Fukuoka field here.

When Fukuoka announced that it was being discontinued in 2021 the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon, traditionally held two weeks later, was quick to take over Fukuoka's date on the first Sunday of December for its 2022 running. The unexpected return of Fukuoka meant both races happened on the same day last year, and with Hofu organizers sticking to their decision it's going to happen again this year. Past Ageo City Half Marathon winner Simon Kariuki (Togami Denki) leads the field with a 2:07:18 from Lake Biwa 2021, and looking at the Japanese entries, two 2:07 men, two 2:08, and one 2:09, it's pretty clear why there's a big hole in the Fukuoka field between Hosoya and the next-fastest Japanese runner there, 2:10:41 man Takuma Kumagai (Sumitomo Denko).

Like Hosoya and Kariuki, the #2 and #3 entries in Hofu, Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS) and Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda) ran their bests of 2:07:27 and 2:07:54 at Lake Biwa 2021 and haven't improved on them since. #4 seed Yuki Nakamura (Sumitomo Denko) is the best in the race with a PB from somewhere else, a 2:08:29 for the win at last year's Hofu. Also in the race is Mongolian NR holder and past Hofu winner Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Shin Nihon Jusetsu), trying to get on the boards for qualification for his 6th-straight Olympics after running a career 2nd-best 1:02:37 two weeks ago at the Ageo City Half Marathon.

Hofu also has small women's and IPC fields. Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada Holdings) and Ayano Ikeuchi (Denso) are the fastest women with recent bests of 2:28:45 and 2:33:29, with Tokyo Paralympians Tadashi Horikoshi (NTT Nishi Nihon) and Yumiko Fujii (Biwako Timers) leading the IPC races. Local broadcaster KRY will be showing the race at 10:40 a.m. local time, with streaming on Hulu and a finish line cam on Youtube. Complete Hofu field listing here.

The race where Benard Koech (Kyudenko) set a new world best for 10 miles last year, the Kumamoto Kosa 10-Mile Road Race, which also has high-level high school boys' 10 km and women's 5 km races, is a key tune-up for all the big championship ekidens still on the calendar from high school to collegiate to corporate league. Top entries in the 10-miler include 2:05:51 marathoner Ichitaka Yamashita (Mitsubishi Juko), 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.), 59:18 half marathoner Cleophas Kandie (Mitsubishi Juko), sub-61 half marathoners Joseph Razini Lemeteki (Yasukawa Denki), Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) and Kiyoshi Koga (Yasukawa Denki) and many more. Streaming starts above at 10:35 a.m. local time for the women's 5 km and 11:20 for the men's 10 miles. Live results for all distances will be here. Complete entry lists here.

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."

Fukube Breaks 100 mH NR at All-Star Night Games - Japan's Olympians Make Final Tune-Ups

Getting stuck in the shinkansen cancelation headaches yesterday means we're a day late getting to the weekend's track roundup, but better late than never. At the top of the list, women's 100 mH national record holder Mako Fukube (NKK) took 0.04 off her own record to win in 12.69 (+1.2) at the All-Star Night Games in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa in her last race before the Paris Olympics. Other Paris team members won their races too: 4x400 m squad member Takuho Yoshizu (GK Line) took the win in the men's 400 m in 45.89. Men's 400 m hurdler Daiki Ogawa (Toyo Univ.) set a meet record 49.09 for the win. Sumire Hata (Sumitomo Denko) set a women's long jump MR of 6.61 m (+0.8). Marina Saito (Suzuki) and Momone Ueda (Zenrin) both threw over the old MR held by world champion and Paris teammate Haruka Kitaguchi , Saito getting the win with a final attempt of 58.45 m, Ueda next at 57.93 m and 3rd-placer Yuki Yamamoto (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) also going over the old MR at 57

Police Arrest 20-Year-Old Man Charged With Assaulting Female Runner at Popular Tokyo Running Spot

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a female runner along the banks of the Tama River in Ota Ward, Tokyo. "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go for a walk and move my body a bit," the man told police. Local resident Hirai Muroyama , 20, of no known occupation, was arrested on charges of sexual assault. He is accused of acts including grabbing the breasts of a woman in her 20s at around 10 p.m. on May 31 along the banks of the Tama River. According to police, the woman was taking a break in her run when Muroyama approached her silently from behind and grabbed her breasts before running away. Under police interrogation Muroyama told investigators, "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go out for a walk and move my body. I'd had a few drinks and was feeling pretty hype. She was totally my type." source article: https://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newsey

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