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)

Keita Sato Joins Swoosh TC

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Kanakuri Memorial Meet Streaming and Start Lists

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Aoyama Gakuin University Launches Women's Ekiden Team With Goal of "Stopping the Declining Numbers in the Sport"

2026 Hakone Ekiden champion Aoyama Gakuin University held a press conference Apr. 4 at its Sagamihara campus announcing that it was adding a women's ekiden team to its track and field program. In its first year the team has only 2 members, Nodoka Ashida of Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. , and Kairi Ikeno of Suma Gakuen H.S . The team's head coach will be Susumu Hara , who coached the AGU men to their second Hakone threepeat this year and had a hand in the GMO corporate team's first-ever New Year Ekiden win. At the press conference he talked about the reasons for launching a women's team, and the harsh realities facing women's track and field. AGU is the undisputed leader in the evolution of the university men's ekiden circuit, but adding a women's team represents a new challenge. Hara cited 3 objectives in expanding the AGU program: "creating an environment where female athletes can balance competition and life events," "expanding the opportunities...

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