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Osaka Marathon Preview


The Osaka Marathon is Monday, with a live ad-free national broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. local time on NHK that you'll probably need a VPN to pick up online. No word yet on live results, but maybe try the separate elite field site. We'll post a link if something surfaces, and whatever we can from on the ground in Osaka.

Anyway, there are some pretty good story lines this time around. Last year the big one was Izumo Ekiden and National University Ekiden Koku Gakuin University runner Kiyoto Hirabayashi winning with a debut and collegiate record of 2:06:18. That was eclipsed at the start of this month by Hiroki Wakabayashi from Hakone Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University with a 2:06:07 at Beppu-Oita, and with the arguably more talented 2025-26 AGU captain Asahi Kuroda making his debut in Osaka that might not even last til the end of the month.

But you want story? Here's story: On Wednesday right after his 21st birthday Wakabayashi and Kuroda's teammate Sena Minawatari died from malignant lymphoma that he was only diagnosed with in November. Minawatari was from Osaka. Kuroda says this one is for him. Who cares what else happens, really. Bring it, Asahi. Make him proud.

Which is not to take away from everything else that's going to happen. 2024 women's winner Waganesh Mekasha is back after a big 2:20:44 win in Toronto in the fall and has four other Ethiopians within about a minute of her to deal with, Sisay Meseret Gola, Yeshi Kalayu Chekole, Afera Godfay and Amid Fozya Jamal. The weather is looking cold with a chance of snow, but even so they've got a chance of hitting the 2:22:16 course record.

The 7 fastest men on the start list have all run under the 2:06:01 CR in the last 3 years, so unless the snow really comes down the record should be in reach. Ronald Korir, Bethwel Kibet and Boniface Kimutai are at the front end of the field, with Japanese NR holder Kengo Suzuki ranked #4 and hoping for a comeback after a good run at last month's New Year Ekiden. The top man at last year's Tokyo Marathon Yusuke Nishiyama has withdrawn, making Paris Olympic Trials winner Naoki Koyama the next-fastest Japanese man after Suzuki with a 2:06:33 in Osaka last year.

Kuroda has the most-anticipated debut, his 1:05:44 on the net uphill 23.1 km Hakone Ekiden Second Stage in January equating to a 1:00:03 half marathon, but he's not the only one that caliber on the list of first-timers. Ryota Kondo, Shunsuke Shikama, Koki Kamata and Soshi Suzuki all have recent sub-61 half marathons to their names, so expect them all to be up in the lead pack for at least a big chunk of the race. The Tokyo Marathon usually produces a few faster Japanese men's times, and probably will this year too, but Osaka now beats Tokyo on depth and it's not hard to see why. With Osaka counting toward selection for September's Tokyo World Championships expect that lead pack to be a massive shinkansen of talent.

Osaka Marathon Elite Field Highlights

Osaka, 24 Feb. 2025
times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted

Men
Ronald Korir (Kenya) - 2:04:22 (4th, Berlin 2023)
Bethwel Kibet (Kenya) - 2:04:37 (2nd, Amsterdam 2023)
Boniface Kimutai (Kenya) - 2:05:05 (10th, Berlin 2023)
Kengo Suzuki (Japan/Fujitsu) - 2:05:28 (4th, Tokyo 2022)
Abdisa Tola (Ethiopia) - 2:05:42 (1st, Dubai 2023)
Derseh Kindie (Ethiopia) - 2:05:51 (12th, Valencia 2023)
Yihunilign Adane (Ethiopia) - 2:05:53 (1st, Barcelona 2022)
Getaneh Molla (Ethiopia) - 2:06:29 (1st, Ljubljana 2024)
Yusuke Nishiyama (Japan/Toyota) - 2:06:31 (9th, Tokyo 2024) - withdrawn
Naoki Koyama (Japan/Honda) - 2:06:33 (3rd, Osaka 2024)
Abraraw Misganaw (Ethiopia) - 2:06:39 (5th, Dubai 2023)
Kazuya Nishiyama (Japan/Toyota) - 2:06:45 (6th, Osaka 2023)
Kyohei Hosoya (Japan/Kurosaki Harima) - 2:06:55 (12th, Tokyo 2024)
Shokhrukh Davlyatov (Uzbekistan) - 2:07:02 (18th, Valencia 2023)
Michael Githae (Kenya/Suzuki) - 2:07:08 (1st, Fukuoka Int'l 2023)
Eyob Faniel (Italy) - 2:07:09 (7th, Sevilla 2024)
Masaki Sakuda (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:07:49 (13th, Osaka 2023)
Kento Kikutani (Japan/Toyota Boshoku) - 2:07:53 (5th, Beppu-Oita 2023)
Yuta Koyama (Japan/Toenec) - 2:07:57 (17th, Osaka 2023)
Takeru Yamaguchi (Japan/Suzuki) - 2:07:58 (18th, Osaka 2023)
Tsukasa Koyama (Japan/Subaru) - 2:08:00 (7th, Beppu-Oita 2023)
Mizuki Higashi (Japan/Aisan Kogyo) - 2:08:03 (9th, Osaka 2024)
Tianyu Chen (China) - 2:08:11 (7th, Beijing 2023)
Kento Nishi (Japan/Osaka Gas) - 2:08:11 (19th, Osaka 2023)
Yugo Kashiwa (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 2:08:11 (20th, Osaka 2023)
Shunya Kikuchi (Japan/Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:08:20 (21st, Osaka 2023)
Toshiki Sadakata (Japan/Mitsubishi Juko) - 2:08:22 (8th, Chicago 2024)
Yuta Shimoda (Japan/GMO) - 2:08:24 (2nd, Beppu-Oita 2024)
Patrick Wambui (Kenya/NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:08:28 (3rd, Fukuoka Int'l 2024)
Yuki Nakamura (Japan/Sumitomo Denko) - 2:08:29 (1st, Hofu 2022)
Kazuya Azegami (Japan/Toyota) - 2:08:29 (23rd, Osaka 2023)
Erenjia Jia (China) - 2:08:32 (25th, Berlin 2024)
Kiyohito Akiyama (Japan/Aichi Seiko) - 2:08:43 (7th, Fukuoka Int'l 2022)
Yuki Takei (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:08:44 (16th, Osaka 2024)
Kazuma Kubo (Japan/Nishitetsu) - 2:08:48 (20th, Tokyo 2022)
Shoma Yamamoto (Japan/NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:08:52 (2nd, Hofu 2022)
Charles Muneria (Kenya) - 2:08:54 (1st, Malaga 2023)
Ben Preisner (Canada) - 2:08:58 (4th, Beppu-Oita 2024)
Olonbayar Jamsran (Mongolia) - 2:08:58 (29th, Osaka 2023)
Riki Nakanishi (Japan/Toenec) - 2:09:01 (1st, Hofu 2024)
Shoma Hosoya (Japan/Logisteed) - 2:09:05 (18th, Osaka 2024)
Masashi Nonaka (Japan/Toyota) - 2:09:11 (20th, Osaka 2024)
Ryo Hashimoto (Japan/Chuo Hatsujo) - 2:09:12 (3rd, Hofu 2022)
Reo Kuniyuki (Japan/Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:09:21 (4th, Hofu 2022)
Isaac Cheluko (Kenya) - 2:09:25 (5th, Rome 2024)
Yota Ifuku (Japan/Waseda Univ.) - 2:09:26 (1st, Nobeoka 2024)
Jidongzhi Sang (China) - 2:09:29 (9th, Wuxi 2024)
Benard Kimani (Kenya/Comodi Iida) - 2:09:34 (19th, Tokyo 2023)
Koki Takada (Japan/Sumitomo Denko) - 2:09:45 (11th, Fukuoka Int'l 2022)
Junnosuke Matsuo (Japan/NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:09:48 (27th, Tokyo 2022)
Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Shin Nihon Jusetsu) - 2:10:10 (26th, Osaka 2024)

Debut/Do-Over
Ryota Kondo (Mitsubishi Juko) - 1:00:32 (3rd, National Corporate Half 2023)
Shunsuke Shikama (Logisteed) - 1:00:41 (1st, National Corporate Half 2024)
Koki Kamata (Yakult) - 1:00:47 (3rd, National Corporate Half 2024)
Soshi Suzuki (Yasukawa Denki) - 1:00:49 (4th, National Corporate Half 2024)
Ken Yokote (Fujitsu) - 1:01:18 (24th, National Corporate Half 2022)
Ryo Goda (Yasukawa Denki) - 1:01:22 (15th, Marugame Half 2024)
Taiyo Iwasaki (JFE Steel) - 1:01:22 (16th, Marugame Half 2024)
Hiroki Abe (Sumitomo Denko) - 1:01:26 (33rd, National Corporate Half 2022)
Asahi Kuroda (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:39 (23rd, Marugame Half 2024)
Yuma Nozawa (Soka Univ.) - 1:01:46 (10th, Osaka Half 2024)
Kazuki Matsumura (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:55 (21st, National Corporate Half 2023)

Women
Waganesh Mekasha (Ethiopia) - 2:20:44 (1st, Toronto 2024)
Sisay Meseret Gola (Ethiopia) - 2:20:50 (2nd, Seville 2022)
Yeshi Kalayu Chekole (Ethiopia) - 2:21:17 (3rd, Seville 2022)
Afera Godfay (Ethiopia) - 2:21:50 (3rd, Toronto 2024)
Amid Fozya Jamal (Ethiopia) - 2:21:53 (5th, Dubai 2024)
Mirai Waku (Japan/Universal Entertainment) - 2:25:58 (7th, Nagoya 2023)
Daiana Ocampo (Argentina) - 2:26:24 (7th, Hamburg 2024)
Kuba Alemu (Ethiopia) - 2:28:48 (2nd, Fuzhou 2023)
Nanami Aoki (Japan/Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:30:01 (8th, Osaka 2023)
Tara Palm (Australia) - 2:32:22 (21st, Berlin 2024)
Anna Matsuda (Japan/Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 2:34:33 (15th, Osaka 2023)
Nera Jareb (Australia) - 2:35:00 (6th, Gold Coast 2022)

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Comments

Anonymous said…
Very deep field and some juicy debuts on this one, depth times should be very good.

Thrilled for Kuroda's debut.
Hara has kept repeating he sees him going sub 2.06, said he shouldn't have issues with it as he expect it to be "easy" for him to beat Wakabayashi's time.
Pacemakers and splits will be very important for those at debut.

Very interested in seeing if Koyama can take another step forward and being italian I'm curious to see how Faniel does on japanese soil.
Looking forward to see if Shikama can get back to top form, he was on his way up 2023-2024 but struggled a bit more recently.

But yes, eyes mainly on Kuroda...one week before Aoi Ota takes on Tokyo Marathon.
February 22, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Anonymous said…
Any idea what Mao Ichiyama is up to?
February 22, 2025 at 9:57 PM
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