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Hirayama Breaks Osaka Half CR, Martinez Set Puerto Rican NR


The Osaka Half Marathon took another big step up the domestic half marathon rankings from a mass-participation race run alongside the Osaka International Women's Marathon to one of the country's top-tier races.

In the women's race, the debuting Jecinta Nyokabi (Denso) went out fast, only to be run down by veteran Yumi Yoshikawa (Uniqlo) by 10 km. Nyokabi faded to 6th in 1:10:41, but Yoshikawa pushed on to a PB 1:09:14 for the win. Rina Shimizu (Noritz), Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) and Makoto Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.) all broke 70 minutes, Tsuchiya taking the Kansai Region collegiate title in 1:09:32 for 4th overall. Everyone in the top 10 who wasn't debuting ran a PB, a mark of how fast the day was even with cold and windy conditions.

The men's race went out on sub-61 pace courtesy of Yudai Shimazu (GMO), then got a big injection of speed when Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) took off close to 60-flat pace. Yokota opened a 10-second lead by 15 km, but over the last quarter of the race the chase pack led by Yuto Imae (GMO), Ethan Shuley (U.S.A.) and Taisei Kato (Asahi Kasei) ran him down. Shuley, a Tokyo-based amateur runner, made a break for it with just over a km to go, but relative unknown Taiga Hirayama (Konica Minolta) led a corporate league charge past him to take the win in a course record 1:00:50 by 2 seconds over Kiyohito Akiyama (Aichi Seiko) and Kanta Shimizu (GMO).

Imae ended up 4th in 1:00:52, the only runner in the top 15 not to PB, with Yuki Osaka (Osaka Police) 7th in 1:00:56 and Shuley just off the podium in 9th in 1:01:02. The top 12 all broke the 1:01:14 CR set 4 years ago by Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko), and the list of PBs continued on deep past the top 15. Back in 31st, Arnaldo Martinez set a new Puerto Rican national record of 1:02:27.

Osaka Half Marathon

Osaka, 25 Jan. 2026

Women
1. Yumi Yoshikawa (Uniqlo) - 1:09:14 - PB
2. Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:09:22 - PB
3. Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 1:09:23 - PB
4. Makoto Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 1:09:32 - PB
5. Miku Hirashima (Tenmaya) - 1:10:06 - PB
6. Jecinta Nyokabi (Kenya/Denso) - 1:10:41 - debut
7. Ayaka Shimoyamada (TT Runners) - 1:10:41 - PB
8. Mio Kuroda (Kyocera) - 1:10:45 - PB
9. Sakura Nishio (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:10:46 - PB
10. Yumi Yamada (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 1:11:03 - debut
11. Rinka Hida (Daiichi Seimei) - 1:11:10
12. Mitsu Ozaki (Sysmex) - 1:11:11
13. Tomo Muramatsu (Daihatsu) - 1:11:18 - PB
14. Tara Palm (Australia) - 1:11:22
15. Chihiro Sato (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:11:29 - PB

Men
1. Taiga Hirayama (Konica Minolta) - 1:00:50 - CR, PB
2. Kiyohito Akiyama (Aichi Seiko) - 1:00:52 (CR), PB
3. Kanta Shimizu (Subaru) - 1:00:52 (CR), PB
4. Yuto Imae (GMO) - 1:00:52 (CR)
5. Taisei Kato (Asahi Kasei) - 1:00:53 (CR), PB
6. Keito Makise (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:00:56 (CR), PB
7. Yuki Osaka (Osaka Police) - 1:00:56 (CR), PB
8. Akito Terui (Subaru) - 1:00:58 (CR), PB
9. Ethan Shuley (U.S.A.) - 1:01:02 (CR), PB
10. Haruki Abe (Yasukawa Denki) - 1:01:03 (CR), PB
11. Itsuki Koizumi (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:01:10 (CR), PB
12. Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:01:13 (CR), PB
13. Taishi Yamada (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:48, PB
14. Masato Arao (ND Software) - 1:01:49 - PB
15. Fumiya Okimi (Osaka Police) - 1:01:51 - PB
16. Yuito Yamamoto (Subaru) - 1:01:52
17. Keito Ogata (Nishitetsu) - 1:01:53 - PB
18. Yudai Shimazu (GMO) - 1:02:01
19. Sota Sumihara (Aisan Kogyo) - 1:02:10 - PB
20. Madoka Tanihara (Osaka Police) - 1:02:10
21. Kira Migita (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:02:17
22. Safumi Sugi (Aisan Kogyo) - 1:02:21 - PB
23. Ryuga Ishikawa (Chuo Hatsujo) - 1:02:24 - PB
24. Akira Tomiyasu (Aisan Kogyo) - 1:02:24
25. Daisuke Higuchi (Chuo Hatsujo) - 1:02:25
-----
31. Arnaldo Martinez (Puerto Rico) - 1:02:27 - NR

© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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