Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite Field

Everything in Japanese marathoning is already about qualifying for the MGC Race, Japan's trials race for the L.A. Olympics. Scheduled the same day as the Fukuoka International Marathon, the Dec. 7 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon counts the same weight as Fukuoka, Tokyo and Osaka in men's qualification, with trials spots up to be had by the first 6 Japanese men under 2:09:00 and the first Japanese woman under 2:27:00.

The only real contender to do that among the women is Mizuki Nishimura, running her first marathon off a 1:41:42 CR at the Kumanichi 30k in February. Given the Tenmaya corporate team's track record of success in the marathon, including the current women's NR of 2:18:59, her chances are pretty good. Ayumi Morita ran a 2:31:38 PB in Tokyo last year, but it's a big jump for her to get down to 2:26 and it'll mostly be a question of whether Nishimura executes the same way she did at Kumanichi.

For men there are 6 under 2:09:00 in the last 3 years, with Ryoma Takeuchi the freshest after a 2:08:38 PB for 3rd at Gold Coast this summer. Kazuya Nishiyama and Daisuke Doi both have recent 2:06 times to their names, and Masatoshi Sakata looks promising after a 2:09:08 in Osaka this year. There's no international field per se, but Japan-based Africans Derese Workneh, Bedan Karoki and Patrick Mathenge Wambui will be in the mix to motivate the front end of the Japanese field to keep the pace real.

56th Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite Field Highlights

Hofu, Yamaguchi, 7 Dec. 2025

complete field listing

times listed are athletes' best within last 3 years except where noted

Men

Kazuya Nishiyama (Toyota) - 2:06:45 (6th, Osaka 2023)

Daisuke Doi (Kurosaki Harima) - 2:06:54 (5th, Osaka 2024)

Derese Workneh (Ethiopia/Hiramatsu Byoin) - 2:07:46 (5th, Beppu-Oita 2025)

Yuta Koyama (Toenec) - 2:07:57 (17th, Osaka 2023)

Bedan Karoki (Kenya/Toyota) - 2:07:59 (16th, Tokyo 2024)

Patrick Mathenge (Kenya/NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:08:28 (3rd, Fukuoka Int'l 2024)

Daiji Kawai (Toenec) - 2:08:32 (25th, Osaka 2023)

Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS) - 2:08:32 (1st, Hofu 2023)

Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) - 2:08:38 (3rd, Gold Coast 2025)

Masatoshi Sakata (NTN) - 2:09:08 (22nd, Osaka 2025)

Hidekazu Hijikata (Asahi Kasei) - 2:09:10 (19th, Osaka 2024)

Masashi Nonaka (Toyota) - 2:09:11 (20th, Osaka 2024)

Takayuki Iida (Fujitsu) - 2:09:34 (5th, Prague 2023)

Kazuki Muramoto (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:09:41 (13th, Beppu-Oita 2023)

Junnosuke Matsuo (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:10:29 (27th, Osaka 2024)

Yuki Suzuki (Kao) - 2:10:53 (42nd, Osaka 2025)

Haruka Kawamura (SDF Academy) - 2:10:57 (7th, Hofu 2023)

Takuma Takemura (SG Holdings) - 2:10:59 (3rd, Nobeoka 2025)

Koki Sato (Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:13 (1st, Nobeoka 2023)

Reo Kuniyuki (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:11:27 (9th, Beppu-Oita 2024)

Yoichi Ishikawa (SDF Academy) - 2:11:30 (4th, Nobeoka 2025)

Takuma Kumagai (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:11:40 (48th, Osaka 2025)

Takeshi Nishida (Toyota) - 2:11:41 (6th, Nobeoka 2024)

Women

Ayumi Morita (Tokyo Metro) - 2:31:38 (10th, Tokyo 2024)

Nagisa Goda (GRlab Kanto) - 2:42:31 (26th, Tokyo 2023)

Hodoka Shimizu (GRlab) - 2:42:58 (30th, Tokyo 2025)

Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) - 2:46:15 (4th, Beppu-Oita 2025)

Mizuki Nishimura (Tenmaya) - 1:41:42 (1st, Kumanichi 30k 2025)

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...

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 .

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