Sakaguchi and Uekado Score Olympic Trials Spots With Hokkaido Marathon Wins

Paris Olympics alternate Ai Hosoda became the first Japanese athlete to score a place at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th at the Sydney Marathon, but starting immediately after Sydney finished the hot and humid Hokkaido Marathon saw another 2 women and 3 men pick up their own trials spots.

The women's race saw Japan-based Kenyan Selly Chepyego Kaptich go out solo around 3:30/km pace, hitting halfway in 1:13:35 before starting to fade. Running her debut, Aiwa Sakaguchi was a bit more conservative, running 1:15:06 through halfway with the trio of Ayano Ikeuchi, Kaena Takeyama and Yukari Nagatomo 20 second behind. Sakaguchi passed Chepyego just past 30 km to take the lead and ran on unchallenged for the win in 2:31:50.

Ikeuchi dropped the other two and started to close on Sakaguchi after 30 km but couldn't quite get there, taking 2nd in 2:31:57 with Nagatomo 3rd in 2:33:57. By clearing 2:32:00 both Sakaguchi and Ikeuchi joined Hosoda on the list early qualifiers for the L.A. Olympic trials to be held in the fall of 2027.

The men's lead group was targeting sub-2:12:00 in order to hit the trials qualifying mark for Hokkaido, over a dozen of them together at halfway in 1:05:45 and only really breaking up after 30 km. Daisuke Uekado, Naoki Aiba and amateur Yudai Fukuda were side-by-side almost the entire way, leaving it to a 3-way battle after 40 km to decide the winner.

2:06 man Uekado got to the line first in 2:11:36, Aiba just 3 seconds behind in 2:11:39. Fukuda, who ran a PB of 2:13:19 in early July at the Gold Coast Marathon, just got under the trials cutoff with a 2:11:59 PB for 3rd, a rare non-corporate league addition to the Olympic trials roster. Tokyo Olympian Yuma Hattori struggled in the heat and dropped out early in the 2nd half.

Hokkaido Marathon

Sapporo, Hokkaido, 31 Aug. 2025

complete results

Women

1. Aiwa Sakaguchi (Bears) - 2:31:50

2. Ayano Ikeuchi (Denso) - 2:31:57

3. Yukari Nagatomo (Memolead) - 2:33:57

4. Kaena Takeyama (Senko)( - 2:37:43

5. Selly Chepyego Kaptich (Kyudenko) - 2:38:49

6. Miyu Moriuchi (T. Hally) - 2:41:56

7. Miyu Fukada (RAC) - 2:42:15

8. Saki Shimada (KAB) - 2:43:47

9. Yuri Mitsune (Hitachi) - 2:45:25

10. Tomomi Sawahata (Sawahatters) - 2:46:00

Men

1. Daisuke Uekado (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:11:36

2. Naoki Aiba (Chudenko) - 2:11:39

3. Yudai Fukuda (Ishikawa T&F Assoc.) - 2:11:59

4. Ryota Komori (NTN) - 2:12:50

5. Yuki Muta (Logisteed) - 2:13:40

6. Haruto Ono (JFE Steel) - 2:14:31

7. Masaki Sakuda (JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:15:05

8. Akito Terui (Subaru) - 2:15:25

9. Kazumoto Iwasa (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:15:39

10. Taisei Kato (Asahi Kasei) - 2:16:18

11. Itto Otawa (Tochigi T&F Assoc.) - 2:16:29

12. Hiromasa Kumahashi (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 2:18:04

13. Yuichi Yasui (Toyota Tahara) - 2:18:53

14. Yusuke Tobimatsu (Hioki City Hall) - 2:18:57

15. Maki Yamada (Asahi Kasei) - 2:18:59

-----

DNF - Yuma Hattori (Toyota)

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR have announced details for the qualifying half marathon for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The Yosenkai qualifying race will be held Oct. 17 in Tachikawa, Tokyo. The combined times of the 10 fastest finishers from each participating team will be used for team scoring, with the 10 fastest teams going on the the main event next January and top-placing individuals from teams that do not qualify being names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team. One change from previous years is that the number of runners each school can enter has been increased from 14 to 16. Teams will still only be allowed to have from 10 to 12 athletes on the starting line, but the move gives coaches greater flexibility in making the final decision on their starting rosters. No changes have been made to the qualifying times of 34:00 for 10000 m or 1:13:00 for the half marathon, and the new earlier starting time of 8:30 a.m. introduced last year in an effort to mitigate ...

Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

2010 Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/21/10 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 47:53 2. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 48:07 3. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 49:43 4. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 51:37 5. Benita Willis (Australia) - 51:51 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) - 41:13 - WR 2. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 42:01 3. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 42:01 4. Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) - 43:03 5. Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia) - 43:08 ----- 14. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 45:31

japan running news

Search This Blog