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

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...
2 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview and Streaming (updated)

Japan's winter marathon season of 6 major races in 7-straight weekends wraps up Sunday with the world's largest women-only marathon, the Nagoya Women's Marathon . The weather is looking pretty good, 6˚ at the start rising to 10˚ by the finish and sunny skies, but a moderate 7 m/s NW wind means a headwind finish that might impact the potential for some fast times. Official streaming kicks off at 9:00 a.m. local time. Live results will be here . Sheila Chepkirui won last year in 2:20:40, breaking away from Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba at 30 km and hanging on for the win. Sato negative split a 2:20:59 PB for 2nd, Chumba fading to 3rd in 2:21:36. All 3 are back this time, but they have pretty serious competition from Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Selly Chepyego Kaptich , 2:20:03 in Barcelona 2023. And of course, Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda . Maeda ran 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024 to make the Paris Oly...
Post a Comment
Read more