Skip to main content

Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field


The Fukuoka International Marathon is back Dec. 7 with exactly the kind of boutique field it's had over the decades. Up front are two of the home soil stars from February's Osaka Marathon, Kyohei Hosoya, 2:05:58, and Shunya Kikuchi, 2:06:06. Their toughest competition comes from Djibouti NR holder and 2023 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon winner Ibrahim Hassan, 2:06:13, and Yusuke Nishiyama, who ran a 2:06:31 PB in Tokyo last year despite getting caught up in a fall in the early going.

There's a layer of 5 2:07 men, 3 at 2:08 and a lone 2:09 runner below them, a total of 6 sub-2:10 Japanese men competing for 6 places at the L.A. Olympic marathon trials for anyone who goes under 2:09 here with support from 7 internationals from 5 countries. The Konica Minolta corporate team hasn't shown incredible aptitude for the marathon, but its 1:01:04 half marathoner Ren Yonemitsu is an interesting debut.

Check back closer to race date for info on streaming and following from outside Japan.

2025 Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field Highlights

Fukuoka, 7 Dec. 2025
times listed are athletes' best within last 3 years except where noted

Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima) - 2:05:58 (Osaka 2025)
Shunya Kikuchi (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:06:06 (Osaka 2025)
Ibrahim Hassan (Djibouti) - 2:06:13 (Paris 2025)
Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota) - 2:06:31 (Tokyo 2024)
Tatsuya Maruyama (Toyota) - 2:07:06 (Tokyo 2025)
Michael Githae (Kenya/Suzuki) - 2:07:08 (Fukuoka Int'l 2023)
Vincent Raimoi (Kenya/Suzuki) - 2:07:23 (Tokyo 2023)
Yitayew Abuhay (Israel) - 2:07:26 (Seville 2025)
Goitom Kifle (Eritrea) - 2:07:38 (Seville 2025)
Dominic Letting (Kenya) - 2:08:23 (Frankfurt 2023)
Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) - 2:08:34 (Shanghai 2024)
Bayelign Yegzaw (Ethiopia) - 2:08:56 (Dubai 2024)
Takumi Iwata (JFE Steel) - 2:09:28 (Osaka 2025)
Tomoki Yoshioka (Kraftia) - 2:10:03 (Beppu-OIta 2024)
Ryuichi Yoshioka (Honda Tochigi) - 2:10:49 (Tokyo 2025)
Yudai Fukuda (Ishikawa T&F Assoc.) - 2:11:26 (Berlin 2025)
Kazuma Kubo (Nishitetsu) - 2:11:31 (Osaka 2025)
Shintaro Miyakawa (Tokyo Police) - 2:11:39 (Tokyo 2025)
Shinta Miyazawa (Suzuki) - 2:11:55 (Hofu 2024)

Debut
Ren Yonemitsu (Konica Minolta) - 1:01:04 (Marugame Half 2025)
Kohei Okada (Fukuoka T&F Assoc.) - 1:02:16 (National Corporate Half 2024)

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .
Post a Comment
Read more

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 .
77 comments
Read more

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...
2 comments
Read more