NR Attempt at Marugame, Hirabayashi at Beppu-Oita

NR Attempt at Marugame, Hirabayashi at Beppu-Oita - Weekend Preview

Japan's two big races this weekend both have a lot of excitement around them, but cold rain threatens to hold back the quality of performances people are hoping for.

At the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon there are 19 men with times in the 58-60 minute range within the last 3 years, and among them sometime training partners Tomoki Ota and Kotaro Shinohara, 1:00:08 and 1:00:11 in Marugame 2 years ago, will be taking a serious shot at the 1:00:00 Japanese national record. Shinohara told JRN that he is targeting 59:45, and that Ota is his only real competition to get the NR. The rain forecast looks light with headwinds in the first half and tailwinds on the return trip, so between that and a front group including Alexander Mutiso, Cleophas Kandie, Bedan Karoki and Emmanuel Maru it's possible one of them, or someone else, will turn in Japan's first sub-60.

The women's race features Dolphine Omare, Pauline Kamulu and Dominique Scott in the 66-67 minute range, with Japan's top talent being Rika Kaseda, 1:08:11, and debuting sub-31 track 10000 m runner Haruka Kokai. BS Fuji has the live TV broadcast starting at 10:30 a.m. local time, but it doesn't look to be available on TVer at this point. JRN will be on-site in Marugame.

Across the water, the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon has a pretty interesting race lined up. After running 2:06:18 to win last year's Osaka Marathon in his debut, Koku Gakuin University ekiden captain Kiyoto Hirabayashi has chosen Beppu-Oita for his follow up. It's a lower-key choice that his coach Yasuhiro Maeda said was made in order to keep the pressure down. The only faster runner in the field, Kenyan Vincent Kipchumba, last finished a marathon at London 2021 when he ran his PB of 2:04:28, so Hirabayashi's main competition will probably be 2:06:57 man Shohei Otsuka, and maybe last year's winner Derese Workneh or fellow Ethiopian Tesfahun Akalnew if things go a little slower.

Other collegiate runners making their debuts including KGU's Goki Takayama and a duo from 2025 Hakone Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University could also be factors, especially given AGU's recent history of success at Beppu-Oita. Cold rain is in the forecast, and given how thin Hirabayashi is that would seem to work against him, but he excelled in exactly the same kind of conditions in Osaka last year. TBS is broadcasting Beppu-Oita live at 11:50 a.m., with streaming on the Youtube link above.

Another good half with a lot of collegiate runners, the Kanagawa Half Marathon also happens Sunday in Yokohama. No field listing is available at this point, but with a flat course and always a solid collegiate field it's usually a fast race.

Hassan Runs NR/CR for Osaka Win, Dibaba Hits Women's CR, Yoshida and Shuley Earn Legends

This was maybe the most entertaining marathon in years. After rocking the 2nd leg at last year's Hakone Ekiden Hibiki Yoshida (Sunbelx) ran an incredible 1:01:01 CR for the 21.9 km New Year Ekiden 2nd leg last month, equivalent to a 58:47 half marathon. That predicted a 2:03:27 marathon if he ever ran one, and when Yoshida announced he was debuting at this year's Osaka Marathon he wasted no time in saying it'd be a shot at the 2:04:55 NR. Things went out fast enough with a 14:50 split through 5 km, 2:05:11 pace, but Yoshida just couldn't hold back and took off at 8 km. He clearly DGAF about what was probably going to happen as his projected finish kept getting faster, 2:04:41, 2:04:15, 2:03:51, 2:03:40, edging closer and closer to what his New Year time predicted, but not helped along by the fact that he missed 4 out of his first 5 drink bottles. People laughed, and then cheered him on. 30 km was the first time he slowed, his finish projection dropping to 2:03:53, an...

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...

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