Hokkaido Marathon Elite Field

Next weekend's Hokkaido Marathon has a good men's field lined up, with five sub-2:10 men and some interesting matchups. At the front is 2024 Osaka Marathon winner Kiyoto Hirabayashi, the winners of the 2024 and 2022 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Derese Workneh and Yuki Nakamura, and 2023 Beppu-Oita runner-up Atsumi Ashiwa, with threats from two other race winners, 2022 Hokkaido champ Luka Musembi and Tokyo Olympics marathon trials winner Shogo Nakamura. Sub-61 half marathoner Kazuki Matsuyama is scheduled to debut, and if he or Hirabayashi actually start it will give the race a very different dynamic.

The women's field is thinner, but 2018 World Half Marathon Championships bronze medalist Pauline Kamulu is on the list to make her debut. If she's for real nobody else in the field can touch her. If not, it'll probably be a head-to-head between the only sub-2:30 woman in the race, Yuri Mitsune, and Nanami Aoki, 2:30:01 on Osaka last year. Shiho Tachizako is another high-potential first-timer from the Tenmaya corporate team, coming in off a 1:11:16 at February's National Corporate Half Marathon.

BS Fuji's broadcast of the race starts at 8:28 a.m. local time Sunday and is scheduled to be streamed online. Details on streaming TBA.

Times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted.

Men

Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 2:06:18 (1st, Osaka 2024)

Derese Workneh (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 2:07:58 (1st, Beppu-Oita 2024)

Yuki Nakamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:08:29 (1st, Beppu-Oita 2022)

Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda) - 2:08:37 (2nd, Beppu-Oita 2023)

Yuma Morii (Kyoto T&F Assoc.) - 2:09:59 (8th, Boston 2024)

Masaru Aoki (Kao) - 2:10:01 (15th, Osaka 2022)

Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:10:02 (9th, Beppu-Oita 2022)

Chihiro Ono (GMO) - 2:10:15 (36th, Osaka 2023)

Ren Umezaki (Toyo Univ.) - 2:10:19 (2nd, Nobeoka 2024)

Hiromasa Kumahashi (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 2:10:38 (25th, Tokyo 2024)

Daisuke Hosomori (YKK) - 2:10:40 (28th, Osaka 2024)

Takashi Soma (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:10:46 (3rd, Nobeoka 2024)

Luka Musembi (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 2:10:49 (1st, Hokkaido 2022)

Haruka Kawamura (SDF Academy) - 2:10:57 (7th, Hofu 2023)

Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) - 2:12:10 (36th, Tokyo 2023)

Kazuki Matsuyama (Toyo Univ.) - debut - 1:00:43 (Corporate Half 2022)

Women

Yuri Mitsune (18 Ginko) - 2:29:49 (13th, Nagoya 2024)

Nanami Aoki (Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:30:01 (8th, Osaka 2023)

Yuko Kikuchi (Shimamura) - 2:32:08 (23rd, Nagoya 2022)

Ayano Ikeuchi (Denso) - 2:32:26 (11th, Seoul 2024)

Ai Ikemoto (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 2:34:17 (3rd, Hofu 2022)

Asuka Yamamoto (Universal Ent.) - 2:34:36 (9th, Osaka 2024)

Tomomi Sawahata (Sawahatters) - 2:34:46 (27th, Nagoya 2022)

Pauline Kamulu Kaveke (Route Inn Hotels) - debut - 1:07:22 (Marugame Half 2023)

Shiho Tachizako (Tenmaya) - debut - 1:11:16 (Corporate Half 2024)

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges. Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

Long Time Coming - Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera's Road to the 2022 United Airlines NYC Half

Back in pre-pandemic days Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera were still in college, Akasaki at Takushoku University and Onodera at Teikyo University . At the 2019 Ageo City Half Marathon they frontran most of the race together, dead set on finishing in the top two Japanese collegiate spots to win invitations to the 2020 United Airlines NYC Half. For Akasaki it had already been a year and a half wait. Inspired by Kenta Murayama 's 1:00:57 5th place in finish in New York in 2017 and Kei Katanishi 's 7th-place in 2018, Akasaki went for it his junior year in his debut at the 2018 Ageo Half . "Coming up to 10 km I was in the lead pack and feeling good, so I knew I had a shot at going to New York and got pretty excited," he said. But right after the 10 km turnaround point he tripped and fell, and by the time he was back up the lead group was out of range. He finished 20th in 1:03:07, over a minute and a half behind top Japanese university man Ken Nakayama . "I was f...

japan running news

Search This Blog