Three Japanese Men Running 128th Boston Marathon

Back in Japan's golden years Boston was a big draw for its top talent in the marathon, but for a long time it was off the list of first-choice marathons as the preoccupation shifted to times. That started changing again in 2017 when 5000 m NR holder Suguru Osako made his debut there with a 2:10:28 for 3rd, following in the footsteps of other Waseda University alum who ran well in Boston including two-time winner Toshihiko Seko and the late Tomoyuki Taniguchi.

Osako was 3rd at October's Paris Olympic marathon trials, putting him in position to be on the Paris team unless someone runs 2:05:50 or better at February's Osaka Marathon or March's Tokyo Marathon. Having run 2:06:13 in Tokyo last year but beaten by two Japanese men who both went under 2:06, there wasn't really any upside to Osako doing Tokyo this time. Osaka seemed like the logical choice, but like he has for most of his life Osako is following his own motivations and opting to return to the 128th Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America. Given the chances of another Japanese man hitting 2:05:50 and the makeup of the Paris Olympic marathon course, it's a good choice.

In Boston he'll be joined by Kento Otsu, a member of the legendary 2012 Toyo University team that broke the 3:00/km barrier for the full Hakone Ekiden course. After Toyo Otsu was coached by Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita, under whose guidance he ran his 2:08:15 PB at the 2021 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon. Having run the United Airlines NYC Half twice, Boston will be Otsu's U.S. marathon debut.

Also in Boston is Ryoma Takeuchi, fresh off a 2:08:40 PB for 3rd at December's Hofu Yomiuri Marathon. A training partner of half marathon great Alexander Mutiso at the ND Software corporate team, Takeuchi is running his third Abbott World Marathon Majors, having run 2:12:26 at the 2019 Chicago Marathon and 2:14:35 at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon.

128th Boston Marathon Elite Men's Field

Boston, MA, U.S.A., 15 April 2024

times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years

Sisay Lemma (Ethiopia) - 2:01:48 (Valencia 2023)

Gabriel Geay (Tanzania) - 2:03:00 (Valencia 2022)

Joshua Belet (Kenya) - 2:04:18 (Amsterdam 2023)

Ronald Korir (Kenya) - 2:04:22 (Berlin 2023)

Cyprian Kotut (Kenya) - 2:04:34 (Amsterdam 2023)

Haftu Teklu (Ethiopia) - 2:04:43 (Berlin 2023)

John Korir (Kenya) - 2:05:01 (Chicago 2022)

Mohamed Esa (Ethiopia) - 2:05:05 (Amsterdam 2022)

Evans Chebet (Kenya) - 2:05:43 (London 2021)

Shura Kitata (Ethiopia) - 2:06:12 (Tokyo 2022)

Suguru Osako (Japan) - 2:06:13 (Tokyo 2023)

Filmon Ande (Eritrea) - 2:06:38 (Barcelona 2021)

Zouhair Talbi (Morocco) - 2:06:39 (Houston 2024)

Isaac Mpofu (Zimbabwe) - 2:06:48 (Valencia 2022)

Albert Korir (Kenya) - 2:06:57 (New York 2023)

Sondre Nordstad Moen (Norway) - 2:07:16 (Fukuoka Int'l 2023)

Kento Otsu (Japan) - 2:08:15 (Lake Biwa 2021)

Ryoma Takeuchi (Japan) - 2:08:40 (Hofu 2023)

Segundo Jami (Ecuador) - 2:09:05 (Valencia 2023)

Matt McDonald (U.S.A.) - 2:09:49 (Chicago 2022)

Tristan Woodfine (Canada) - 2:10:39 (Houston 2024)

CJ Albertson (U.S.A.) - 2:10:52 (Grandma's 2022)

Chris Thompson (Great Britain) - 2:10:52 (London 2021)

Tsegay Tuemay (Eritrea) - 2:11:04 (McKirdy Micro 2023)

Edward Cheserek (Kenya) - 2:11:07 (New York 2023)

Nick Hauger (U.S.A.) - 2:12:59 (Sacramento 2021)

Will Nation (U.S.A.) - 2:13:24 (Sacramento 2021)

Alexandru Corneschi (Romania) - 2:13:39 (Berlin 2022)

David Nilsson (Sweden) - 2:14:33 (Stockholm 2021)

Robert Miranda (U.S.A.) - 2:14:43 (Sacramento 2023)

Patrick Smyth (U.S.A.) - 2:14:49 (Grandma's 2023)

Yemane Haileselassie (Eritrea) - debut - 1:01:34 (Houston Half 2024)

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

Long Time Coming - Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera's Road to the 2022 United Airlines NYC Half

Back in pre-pandemic days Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera were still in college, Akasaki at Takushoku University and Onodera at Teikyo University . At the 2019 Ageo City Half Marathon they frontran most of the race together, dead set on finishing in the top two Japanese collegiate spots to win invitations to the 2020 United Airlines NYC Half. For Akasaki it had already been a year and a half wait. Inspired by Kenta Murayama 's 1:00:57 5th place in finish in New York in 2017 and Kei Katanishi 's 7th-place in 2018, Akasaki went for it his junior year in his debut at the 2018 Ageo Half . "Coming up to 10 km I was in the lead pack and feeling good, so I knew I had a shot at going to New York and got pretty excited," he said. But right after the 10 km turnaround point he tripped and fell, and by the time he was back up the lead group was out of range. He finished 20th in 1:03:07, over a minute and a half behind top Japanese university man Ken Nakayama . "I was f...

My Training for 1:00:44

Hi, I'm Ayumu Kobayashi . Today I'm going to write about this year's National Corporate Half Marathon and the training I did for it. I hope other runners will find it even a little bit helpful. At the Corporate Half on Feb. 13 I was 10th in 1:00:44. My goal had been to run 61 minutes, so I hit that target. My Training Menu In January I ran a total of 681 km. Key workouts: Jan. 11: 1000 m x 5 at 2:50/km Jan. 12: 22.5 km Jan. 15: 9 km variable pace Jan. 17: 25 km Jan. 24: 1000 m x 8 at 2:52/km Jan. 27: 1 km + 4 km + 2 km Jan. 30: 16 km at 3:18/km avg. In January I was tired from the New Year Ekiden and had some knee pain after it, so I just jogged for 10 days until I started doing workouts again on the 11th. That's why I only ran 681 km for the month. But even on the jog days I was aware that I had the Corporate Half coming up, so I was doing around 30 km. It's pretty meat and potatoes, but I think it was really important. February (training for the 10 days before...

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