Waseda University 3rd-Year Yota Ifuku Breaks Nobeoka Marathon CR in 2:09:26 Debut

The Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon is the least well-known of the four big Japanese men's marathons in five weeks, traditionally a place for debuts and 2nd-tier talent. And for the second year in a row a debuting Waseda University runner took the top spot this time, Yota Ifuku making history as the first runner ever to break 2:11 in Nobeoka with a 2:09:26 school record for the win.

5th on the Hakone Ekiden's Eighth Stage for Waseda six weeks ago, Ifuku was at the front of the pack of 19 at halfway in an ambitious 1:05:02. Just past 25 km he took off with a 15:10 split to 30 km that put him out front by 28 seconds, then went even faster with a 15:06 to 35 km. With a 38-second negative split Ifuku broke the tape in 2:09:26, one minute 39 seconds under the older CR of 2:11:05 set by Yuichi Washio back in 2006.

【#延岡西日本マラソン　速報】

🥇1位　伊福陽太(3) 2:09:26 (速報)

伊福が早稲田記録の2:09:50を更新する2:09:26で優勝！
この記録は大会記録＆学生歴代5位！！
昨年の佐藤航希に続き、早稲田勢がこの大会2連覇です#臙脂で染めろ pic.twitter.com/uIra5rh3uh
— 早稲田大学競走部 (@Waseda_Kyoso) February 11, 2024

6th on Hakone's competitive Second Stage for Toyo University, Ren Umezaki was 2nd in his debut in 2:10:19. Corporate leaguer Takashi Soma (Otsuka Seiyaku) joined Ifuku and Umezaki under the old CR at 3rd in a PB 2:10:46. Results were good far down into the field, with five of the top 15 running PBs and the other 10 all debuting at 2:15:11 or better.

Nobeoka only introduced a women's field in 2015, Saori Sugawa setting the CR of 2:44:40 in 2019. This year amateur Akiko Ogawa just missed bettering that record, running a big 1:15 negative split to win in 2:45:31 off a 1:23:23 first half. The top four were all under 3 hours, with a total of 22 women finishing the race versus 339 men.

62nd Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon

Nobeoka, Miyazaki, 11 Feb. 2024

complete results

Women

1. Akiko Ogawa (Koyugun T&F Assoc.) - 2:45:31

2. Reina Hayashida (Asahi Yukizai) - 2:50:57

3. Yuki Tomitaka (Izumo AC) - 2:56:14

Men

1. Yota Ifuku (Waseda Univ.) - 2:09:26 - CR, debut

2. Ren Umezaki (Toyo Univ.) - 2:10:19 - debut

3. Takashi Soma (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:10:46 - PB

4. Tatsuya Sumide (Aichi Seiko) - 2:11:29 - PB

5. Yuya Yamashita (Sunbelx) - 2:11:37 - PB

6. Takeshi Nishida (Toyota) - 2:11:41 - debut

7. Yuya Kawata (Subaru) - 2:12:31 - debut

8. Kira Migita (Toyota Kyushu) - 2:12:32 - debut

9. Shusei Ohashi (Kodaira T&F Assoc.) - 2:12:34 - PB

10. Takuma Takemura (SGH) - 2:12:39 - debut

11. Taisei Kato (Asahi Kasei) - 2:13:58 - debut

12. Suguru Otaguro (Nishi Nippon Tetsudo) - 2:14:18 - debut

13. Atsushi Yamato (Toyota) - 2:14:29 - debut

14. Yuta Suzuki (Yasukawa Denki) - 2:15:06 - debut

15. Kazuto Kawabata (SGH) - 2:15:11 - PB

16. Taiyo Watanabe (Togami Denki) - 2:15:40

17. Yusei Yoshida (Mitsubishi Juko) - 2:17:55

18. Tatsuya Yamamoto (Komori Corp.) - 2:18:22

19. Hiroto Uesugi (Soka Univ.) - 2:18:37 - debut

20. Ryoya Sakurai (JFE Steel) - 2:19:15

Endo, Nishikawa and Yamakawa Announce Corporate Team Changes

The SG Holdings men's corporate team announced on Oct. 1 that long-distance athletes Hyuga Endo and Yuichiro Nishikawa have joined its roster after leaving the Sumitomo Denko team. Endo, 28, won the Junior Olympics 3000 m while at Koriyama Nishi J.H.S. before going on to Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. where he was the the top Japanese placer in the 5000 m at the National High School Championships 2 years in a row. After graduating from Gakuho Ishikawa he joined the Sumitomo Denko team, winning the National Championships 5000 m in 2021. He won gold at the 2023 Asian Championships and represented Japan at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. "I will give everything I have as part of the team and work hard toward helping it win the New Year Ekiden," he said of his new environment. Of his personal goals he said, "I want to focus on the 5000 m and reach new levels to compete internationally." Nishikawa, 28, was a member of Tokai University 's winning teams at the H...

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