Furukawa Wins Katsuta Marathon by 1 Second

Japan's other big marathon this weekend, the Katsuta Marathon saw a tough four-way race in the men's marathon that came down to a sprint finish in the home straight. Tokyo University graduate student Hiroaki Furukawa, who last year launched action against the Hakone Ekiden organizers for not including a select team in the field for Hakone's 100th edition, passed Sota Yamamoto in the final meters to take 1st in 2:17:28 to Yamamoto's 2:17:29. 3rd and 4th-place Tatsuya Inagaki and Yudai Hiruta weren't far behind, Inagaki finishing in 2:17:41 and Hiruta in 2:17:56.

The women's race wasn't as close, but the top three were still only a little more than a minute apart. Kana Numata scored the top spot in 2:44:34, with Natsuki Tomii 2nd in 2:45:33 and Natsumi Kuroda 3rd in 2:45:56. Furukawa and Numata both scored invitations to April's Boston Marathon for their wins, the only Japanese athletes currently in the elite field.

In the 10 km race, high schooler Jecinta Nyokabi rocked a 32:08 to win the women's race by over 2 minutes. Paralympian Yuki Iwata won the men's race by 17 seconds in 30:38.

72nd Katsuta Marathon and 10 km

Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, 26 Jan. 2025

complete results

Women's Marathon

1. Kana Numata (Saysky) - 2:44:34

2. Natsuki Tomii (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 2:45:33

3. Natsumi Kuroda (GRlab) - 2:45:56

4. Ai Ishikawa (unattached) - 2:54:32

5. Harue Kikuchi (unattached) - 2:57:22

6. Sonoko Koyama (unattached) - 2:59:20

Men's Marathon

1. Hiroaki Furukawa (Tokyo Univ. Grad School) - 2:17:28

2. Sota Yamamoto (Hanni T&F Assoc.) - 2:17:29

3. Tatsuya Inagaki (Mishima RC) - 2:17:41

4. Yudai Hiruta (K-project) - 2:17:56

5. Yoshiki Murase (Takada SDF Base) - 2:18:54

6. Hyuma Abe (Team Nitro) - 2:19:17

Women's 10 km

1. Jecinta Nyokabi (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) - 32:08

2. Haruka Suguro (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) - 34:20

3. Toshika Tamura (Hitachi) - 35:07

4. Kukuri Murai (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) - 35:25

5. Karen Suzuki (Hitachi) - 35:32

6. Mina Numata (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) - 35:58

Men's 10 km

1. Yuki Iwata (one's Para AC) - 30:38

2. Ryota Kikuchi (Suijo H.S.) - 30:55

3. Kaname Suzuki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 31:20

4. Yusuke Fujimoto (Toyo Univ.) - 31:33

5. Naoki Saito (Hitachi Iryo) - 31:35

6. Taisei Kano (one's Para AC) - 31:36

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Nat'l University Ekiden Updates Here

Looks like I just went over my update limit on Twitter - sorry, it's the first time I've tried to use it for this. I'll look for another option next time. In the meantime I'll add updates to the comments below. Not sure if that has a max too but I guess we'll find out. Update: Part one of the Nationals commentary can be found here .

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...

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