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)

Queens Ekiden Streaming and Preview

Sunday is the first big race of championship ekiden season, the Queens Ekiden in Sendai, the season-ending national championship for corporate women. 24 teams race 42.195 km in 6 legs, with the top 8 scoring places for 2025. TBS' live nationwide broadcast starts at 11:50, with multi-camera streaming on Youtube above. Last year Sekisui Kagaku won by almost a minute and a half, and with Paris Olympian Yuma Yamamoto , 2023 World Championships marathoner Sayaka Sato on its entry list and collegiate 1500 m record holder Mizuki Michishita having come on board this season it looks like a contender for another win. But last year's runner-up Japan Post got a big boost this season with the addition of its first non-Japanese member, two-time double 1500 m and 3000 m high school champion Caroline Kariba . The Queens Ekiden limits non-Japanese athletes to a 3.8 km leg, so it'd be tough for Kariba to bridge a 1:25 gap by herself with that little ground to work with. But what she can

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

Singh Breaks Indian NR to Win Hachioji Long Distance 10000 m, with 39 Going Sub-28

For the second time in two months Gulveer Singh was in Japan to race, and for the second time he outkicked Toyota corporate team rookie and 2023-2024 Komazawa University captain Mebuki Suzuki to win with a new Indian national record. Last time around it was September's Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup 5000 m in Niigata, where Singh ran a 13:11.82 NR, outpowering Suzuki over the last 200 m but Suzuki still coming in with an all-time Japanese #8 13:13.80. This time it was the Hachioji Long Distance 10000 m time trial meet in suburban Tokyo. Running the fastest heat targeting the 27:00.00 Tokyo World Championships standard, Singh started at the back of the pack and worked his way forward as the race progressed. The front end of the pack wore down to just Singh, Suzuki and Japan-based Kenyans Samwel Masai (Kao), Gilbert Kiprotich (Sunbelx) and Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko), splitting en route: 2:42 5:25 (2:43) 8:08 (2:43) 10:51 (2:43) 13:36 (2:45) 16:19 (2:43) 19:04 (2:45)

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