Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes

Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes - Weekend Road Roundup

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was back to running performances consistent with his other PBs with a 1:02:30 for 8th. His AGU teammate Kyosuke Hiramatsu was 10th in 1:04:00. Women's winner Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) also set a new CR in 1:09:57.

Aoyama Gakuin runners took the top four spots in the men's half marathon at the Aomori Sakura Marathon, with Hakone alternate Kosei Shiraishi getting the win in 1:04:32 and B-team members Shunto Hamakawa and Kei Kitamura 2nd and 3rd in 1:04:45 and 1:04:48. Club runners took the other division titles, Hina Shinozaki winning the women's half in 1:20:47, Shota Hiwatashi the men's marathon in 2:26:50 and Eri Suzuki the women's marathon in 2:44:57.

The bigger marathon was in Nagano, Keigo Yano (Kao) went for a long surge from 5 km out to drop the rest of a lead group of seven and win the Nagano Marathon in 2:15:53. Yuta Inage (Press Kogyo) took 2nd in 2:17:04 and Haruki Masago (Aichi Seiko) 3rd in his debut in 2:17:20. Rie Kawauchi (Otsuka Seiyaku) soloed a 2:33:16 to win the women's race by over four minutes. The debuting Chisato Kagaya (Tokyo Metro) was one second/km slower that Kawauchi most of the way but tanked over the last 10 km, overtaken by trail runner Chifumi Ito (Shikazoku), 2nd in a 2:37:32 PB, and falling to 3rd in 2:42:05.

A week earlier, Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada Holdings) ran the Rotterdam Marathon for the second year in a row. After running 2:29:09 last year Tsutsui improved to 2:26:51 this time, but with a more competitive field placed only 10th versus her 8th in 2023.

The popular Fuji Five Lakes Ultramarathon also happened Sunday. Kenshiro Sakamoto won the 120 km Sparta men's division in 10:06:01, Yuichi Aikawa the men's 118 km in 9:13:21, Yusuke Kodama the men's 100 km in a solid 6:56:14, and Takuya Uesugi the men's 62 km in 4:25:28. The only woman entered in the 120 km, Tomomi Bito was a DNF, but 24-hour world record holder Miho Nakata took the 118 km division in 9:22:35 for 2nd overall behind men's winner Aikawa. Mai Arizuka won the women's 100 km in 8:03:28, with Kanako Tomita the women's 62 km winner in 5:14:31.

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview

The Nagoya Women's Marathon , the world's largest women-only marathon and the last race in the selection cycle for September's Tokyo World Championships, happens Sunday. Weather conditions are looking better than what they had in Tokyo and Osaka the last two weekends, 7˚ at the start and rising to 12˚ with sunny skies. The wind looks a bit stronger than ideal, but it could be worse. Fuji TV has the live broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. Sunday local time, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch the TVer streaming . One option for a leaderboard is here , and another here . We'll have some coverage on @JRNLive . Just like last time around there are three Ethiopian and Kenyan-born athletes at the top list, this time it being sub-2:20 women Sheila Chepkirui , winner in NYC last year, and Ruti Aga , winner in Xiamen in January, and last year's Nagoya runner-up Eunice Chebichii Chumba . But last year Yuka Ando still pulled off the win, so there's a c...

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...

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