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.

East Japan Corporate Ekiden English Commentary

For the time being I'll be using this post for English commentary on today's East Japan Jitsugyodan Ekiden Championships. Reload article to see updates. Race broadcast starts at 1:55 p.m. Japan time. Click here to watch TBS' broadcast online.

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...

Mashiko Breaks U20 5000 m NR - Weekend Track Roundup

Saturday's Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto was the weekend's main event in Japanese track, but there were good results at the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama too. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) led the men's 5000 m A-heat at Kanakuri in 13:14.06, with Tomonori Yamaguchi (SGH) clocking the fastest Japanese time in 13:16.38 in his first race as a corporate leaguer. Waseda University duo Rui Suzuki and Yota Mashiko went 6-7 in 13:20.64 and 13:22.87, the 18-year-old Mashiko shaving 0.04 off the U20 NR. In 8th, Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) ran a PB of 13:23.92. 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) continued to struggle after a weak indoor season, finishing 18th of 20 finishers in 13:45.10. 19-year-old Festus Kimorwo (Kurosaki Harima) was under 13:20 in the B-heat too, winning in a 13:19.59 PB. 2 more collegiate men broke 13:30, Daichi Fujita (Chuo Univ.) 8th in 13:28.93 and Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) 9th in 13:29.09. The top 6 in the men's 800 m A-hea...

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