Mariko Yugeta Returns, Tamana Half at 75, and More

Mariko Yugeta Returns, Tamana Half at 75, and More - Weekend Update

The Tokyo Marathon dominated the landscape this weekend, from the fastest-ever runs on Japanese soil by winners Sutume Asefa Kebede and Benson Kipruto to Yusuke Nishiyama's heartbreaking reaction to missing the Paris Olympics team despite an excellent 2:06:31 after falling to Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh's 2:26:32 Mongolian NR that qualified for the Paris Olympics. There were dozens of other stories in the race, like Joan Benoit Samuelson completing her World Marathon Majors six star, and her longtime fan Mariko Yugeta running 3:01:28 at age 65. Including the 19 seconds it took her to get to the start line Yugeta went through halfway in 1:29:05 and was still on track for sub-3 at 35 km, but over the last 7.195 km it slipped away. Still, though, it was a single-age world record, that age graded to a 2:10:54 marathon.

At the Kagoshima Marathon, locally-based Eritrean Dejen Tesfalem Weldu who graduated from Seisa University last year won his debut in 2:14:50, almost two minutes ahead of local hero Yusuke Tobimatsu. Rio Olympics 5000 m finalist Miyuki Uehara took the women's race by 5 minutes in a low-key 2:39:17. In a tempo run effort for April's Boston Marathon, Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Soft) set a new course record at the Tamba Sasayama ABC Marathon, with a 2:14:37 for the win. Club runner Ayumi Yokota won the women's race in 2:41:15.

In Kumamoto, the Kanaguri Hai Tamana Half Marathon celebrated its 75th edition with a close race in the men's race that saw Ryoma Inoue (Chudenko) win a four-way sprint finish in 1:03:11 a second ahead of Kaito Suetsugu (Teikyo Univ.), Ryuto Uehara (Koku Gakuin Univ.) and Masanori Sumida (Aichi Seiko). Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (ADHS) continued a downward spiral since getting injured in January, running 1:13:35 after starting on track to break 1:10. Miyaka Sugata (Japan Post) ran a very decent 32:51 to win the women's 10 km, with Koshiro Tanimoto (Omuta H.S.) taking the high school boys' 10 km in 29:35.

Overseas, indoor 3000 m Asian record holder Nozomi Tanaka Bubkaed her way to another AR with an 8:36.03 for 8th at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Shuhei Tada ran a 6.52 NR in the heats of the men's 60 m, then 6.56 in the semifinals. But in the final he felt a twinge in one leg and limped in 2nd-to-last in 6.70. Post-race he reported no serious damage. Teammate Akihiro Higashida made the semifinals with a first-round 6.62 but didn't make the next cut after running 6.67. Ryoichi Akamatsu was 9th of 12 in the men's high jump after clearing only 2.15 m. Sumire Hata equalled that with a 9th in the women's long jump at 6.43 m. Masumi Aoki didn't make it out of her 60 m heat, running 8.13 for 5th in Heat 1. Mariko Morimoto had no mark in the women's triple jump.

A large number of Japanese athletes were also at Australia's Canberra Track Classic. Top performers there included Ryohei Arai taking the men's javelin throw at 77.22 m, Yuki Yamashita winning the men's triple jump in 15.88 m -2.2 m/s, Maoko Takashima taking 2nd in the women's triple jump at 13.67 m +1.6 m/s, Tetsuro Nishi 2nd in the men's 110 mH in 13.84 -0.7 m/s, Yutaro Niinae 4th in the men's 3000 mSC in 8:42.49, Tomoka Kimura with a 4:16.69 for 4th in the women's 1500 m, and Yusuke Takahashi running 3:43.40 for 6th in the men's 1500 m.

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

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