Local Reporter Otawa, 23, Breaks Ohtawara Marathon CR

The Ohtawara Marathon and 10 km took place Nov. 23 at DI Stadium in Ohtawara, Tochigi. 2803 people started the marathon at 10:00 a.m., with 2354 people finishing for a finisher rate of 84.0%. The race has a cutoff time of 4 hours, and all participants are able to use special drink tables.

Most years there is a headwind blowing from the mountains of Nasu in the 2nd half of the race, but this year there was almost no wind and cloudy skies. Itto Otawa, a 23-year-old Tochigi local, won the men's marathon in a 2:13:04 course record. Otawa ran this year's Hakone Ekiden for Senshu University, placing 15th on the Ninth Stage. After graduating in March he was hired by the Shimotsuke Newspaper in Tochigi, where he works as a reporter. In August he ran a PB of 2:16:29 at the Hokkaido Marathon.

"At work I'm mainly in charge of the Nikko beat," Otawa said. "My goal in Ohtawara this time was to break the course record. I've run a PB every time so far in the marathon, and I'm super happy to have won the only marathon in my home prefecture of Tochigi."

Asked about his training, Otawa said, "I run about 600 km a month. I usually do 20-25 km in the morning before work. At university we did a lot of group runs, but these days I pretty much train by myself. I've always been good at running alone, so doing long runs by myself doesn't bother me at all. I'm planning to run the Tokyo Marathon next year and want to run a good one there."

Saitama's Tomomi Sawahata won the women's race in 2:38:49, with a total of 9 women breaking 2:50.

Ohtawara Marathon

Ohtawara, Tochigi, 23 Nov. 2025

complete results

Men

1. Itto Otawa - 2:13:04 - CR

2. Tatsuya Itagaki - 2:15:03

3. Kenta Murayama - 2:15:20

4. Kazuki Takanuma - 2:16:36

5. Yoshinobu Otsu - 2:19:11

6. Kazuya Namera - 2:19:56

Women

1. Tomomi Sawahata - 2:38:49

2. Eri Suzuki - 2:40:53

3. Kana Numata - 2:42:33

4. Natsuki Tomii - 2:44:59

5. Miyuki Shibata - 2:45:27

6. Rieko Koshi - 2:45:29

7. Junko Ganbara - 2:47:38

8. Sonoka Nakayama - 2:48:36

9. Mirei Sugai - 2:48:37

source article:

https://runnet.jp/topics/report/251125.html#gsc.tab=0

translated and edited by Brett Larner

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...

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