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)

Osako Breaks Marathon NR for 3rd Time - Weekend Roundup

It looked like it was going to be a big weekend, and it delivered. For the 3rd time in his career Suguru Osako broke the men's marathon NR, running 1 second under the standing record to take 4th in the Valencia Marathon in 2:04:55. All the way to 40 km he was steady on 2:58/km, 2:05:10 pace, and like a surprising number of other people in both the men's and women's races, there was a massive jump over the last 2.195 km from his projected finish time to his actual one. His run put Osako back on top of the Japanese charts, put the average of Japan's 10 fastest marathon times of the year under 2:06 for the first time, and got him into the L.A. Olympics marathon trials. Valencia has been trying to get top-tier Japanese athletes to come for years, and now that they finally managed to do it it paid off in a big way. Expect more next year. Back home, former Takushoku University captain Derese Workneh won a 3-way race against Toyota teammates Kazuya Nishiyama and Bedan Ka...

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