Tse and Ota Win Lake Saroma 100 km in High Heat, 67-yr-Old Yugeta 10th

With temperatures reported as high as 35˚C and sunny conditions, a total of 3,858 people were reported to have run Sunday's Lake Saroma 100 km and 50 km Ultramarathon. The conditions were bad enough that 3 runners were taken to the hospital with heatstroke and world champion Haruki Okayama had to drop out mid-race, but that didn't stop Hong Kong's Kok Wai Tse from running strong over the 2nd half of the race to come from behind with an excellent 6:28:39 for the win.

At halfway Tse was almost 2 minutes behind a lead group that included Hideaki Yamauchi and Hideo Nojo, but when they faded in the heat Tse was there to take over. He ultimately finished over 13 minutes ahead of 2nd-place Shion Oe, who likewise had a more conservative start and spent most of the race with eventual 3rd-placer Naoki Matsuo. Yamauchi was ultimately 4th in 6:47:32, splitting 3:07:39/3:39:53, with Nojo 5th in 6:49:37 with even more painful splits of 3:07:30/3:42:07.

In the women's race Mikiko Ota won in 7:32:21, her 3rd-straight Lake Saroma win. "I still can't believe it!" she said post-race. "I'm super happy. The 2nd half was really hard, but the people cheering along the course helped me get through it." Akiko Maruichi was 2nd in 7:39:04, with Miho Nakata 3rd in 7:51:10. 67-year-old sub-3 marathoner Mariko Yugeta was 10th overall in 8:24:02.

Kanata Mizote won the men's 50 km in 3:17:28, with Mikiko Matsuda winning the women's race in 4:11:54.

Lake Saroma 100 km and 50 km Ultramarathon

Hokkaido, 29 June 2025

complete results

Men's 100 km

1. Kok Wai Tse (Hong Kong) - 6:28:39

2. Shion Oe - 6:42:01

3. Naoki Matsuo - 6:45:20

4. Hideaki Yamauchi - 6:47:32

5. Hideo Nojo - 6:49:37

6. Taku Fujiwara - 6:51:27

7. Ryotaro Kamoshida - 6:54:00

8. Chiharu Kuzukubo - 6:56:27

9. Akihiro Mizushima - 7:09:23

10. Shinya Dobashi - 7:10:47

Women's 100 km

1. Mikiko Ota - 7:32:21

2. Akiko Maruichi - 7:39:04

3. Miho Nakata - 7:51:10

4. Kaoru Ono - 7:59:00

5. Mai Fujisawa - 8:03:26

6. Yurina Kawasaki - 8:03:58

7. Saki Shimada - 8:05:26

8. Sakiko Matsumoto - 8:11:55

9. Yuka Tomitaka - 8:13:38

10. Mariko Yugeta - 8:24:02

Men's 50 km

1. Kanata Mizote - 3:17:28

2. Taichi Soda - 3:22:48

3. Kazuki Matsushita - 3:29:01

Women's 50 km

1. Mikiko Matsuda - 4:11:54

2. Ayaka Mori - 4:14:53

3. Kaori Umeshita - 4:34:11

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...

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