Nduta and Akidor Win at Sanyo Ladies Road Race

Alongside the National High School Girls Ekiden, the Nittai University Women's Long Distance Time Trials meet and Sanyo Ladies Road Race 10 km and half marathon made it a busy weekend for women's running in Japan.

At Nittai, Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) was just off her PB in the 5000 m, winning the A-heat in 15:26.59 by almost 20 seconds over teammate Yume Goto. Nokoka Hosaka (SID Group) took the 3000 m A-heat in 9:25.42, leading the top 5 under 9:30.

At Sanyo, a lead group of 4 went through 5 km in 16:09 in the 10 km before Lucy Nduta (Ehime Ginko) threw in a massive surge to win in a negative split 31:49. Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) held steady for 2nd in 32:17, with Mao Uesugi (Tokyo Metro) fading slightly but holding off the fast-closing Hikaru Kitagawa (Universal Entertainment) for 3rd 32:38 to 32:41. Part of the original lead quartet, Daisy Jerop (Josai Kokusai Univ.) blew up big time in the 2nd half, finishing 16th in 33:34.

Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) just missed her CR from last year in the half marathon but still pulled off the repeat win, dropping 10 km CR holder Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) after 15 km to take 1st in 1:07:52. Mwikali was 2nd in 1:08:01, with Tabitha Kamau Njeri (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) and Nanaka Izawa (Starts) both getting under 70 minutes in 1:09:26 and 1:09:36.

26th Nittai University Women's Long Distance Time Trials

Yokohama, Kanagawa, 20 Dec. 2025

complete results

3000 m A-Heat

1. Nokoka Hosaka (SID Group) - 9:25.42

2. Honomi Muramatsu (Tokai Sagami H.S.) - 9:25.79

3. Aiko Minomo (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 9:25.94

4. Mayu Hirata (Wacoal) - 9:26.52

5. Honoka Inoue (Tokai Sagami H.S.) - 9:26.91

6. Moe Kawajiri (GRlab Hyogo) - 9:30.26

7. Ayari Shiozaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 9:30.52

8. Momo Okazaki (Chuo Yokohama H.S.) - 9:35.39

9. Rin Kamiyanagi (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 9:35.46

10. Yuna Kamogari (Kinjo Gakuen H.S.) - 9:35.60

5000 m A-Heat

1. Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) - 15:26.59

2. Yume Goto (Uniqlo) - 15:45.76

3. Rina Kusu (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:47.79

4. Yuka Sakajiri (Wacoal) - 15:54.67

5. Hikaru Hamano (Chuo Univ.) - 15:54.95

6. Eriko Otsuka (Higo Ginko) - 15:56.76

7. Suzuna Kinoshita (Chuo Univ.) - 15:57.53

8. Ayaka Segi (Meijo Univ.) - 15:57.66

9. Rion Furukawa (Nitori) - 15:57.80

10. Moe Koda (Starts) - 16:00.21

44th Sanyo Ladies Road Race

Okayama, 21 Dec. 2025

complete results

10 km

1. Lucy Nduta (Ehime Ginko) - 31:49

2. Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) - 32:17

3. Mao Uesugi (Tokyo Metro) - 32:38

4. Hikaru Kitagawa (Univ. Ent.) - 32:41

5. Sakiho Tsutsui (Univ. Ent.) - 32:49

6. Ayumi Morita (Tokyo Metro) - 32:49

7. Naomi Muthoni (Univ. Ent.) - 32:53

8. Azusa Sumi (Univ. Ent.) - 32:56

9. Shuho Takahashi (Nitori) - 32:59

10. Aika Murakami (Tokyo Metro) - 32:59

Half Marathon

1. Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) - 1:07:52

2. Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) - 1:08:01

3. Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:26

4. Nanaka Izawa (Starts) - 1:09:36

5. Sora Shinozakura (Yokohama T&F Assoc.) - 1:11:02

6. Asa Kobayashi (Noritz) - 1:11:26

7. Madoka Nakano (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:11:36

8. Hisami Ishii (Sysmex) - 1:11:37

9. Yuki Toyoda (Ehime Ginko) - 1:11:43

10. Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:11:52

Hassan Runs NR/CR for Osaka Win, Dibaba Hits Women's CR, Yoshida and Shuley Earn Legends

This was maybe the most entertaining marathon in years. After rocking the 2nd leg at last year's Hakone Ekiden Hibiki Yoshida (Sunbelx) ran an incredible 1:01:01 CR for the 21.9 km New Year Ekiden 2nd leg last month, equivalent to a 58:47 half marathon. That predicted a 2:03:27 marathon if he ever ran one, and when Yoshida announced he was debuting at this year's Osaka Marathon he wasted no time in saying it'd be a shot at the 2:04:55 NR. Things went out fast enough with a 14:50 split through 5 km, 2:05:11 pace, but Yoshida just couldn't hold back and took off at 8 km. He clearly DGAF about what was probably going to happen as his projected finish kept getting faster, 2:04:41, 2:04:15, 2:03:51, 2:03:40, edging closer and closer to what his New Year time predicted, but not helped along by the fact that he missed 4 out of his first 5 drink bottles. People laughed, and then cheered him on. 30 km was the first time he slowed, his finish projection dropping to 2:03:53, an...

Osaka Marathon Preview

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Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

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