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. Shiori Zama (Shimamura) won the women's race by almost 3 minutes over Asuka Yamamoto (Universal Entertainment) - 1:44:57, with Haruka Ito (Komazawa H.S.) taking the high school girls' 10 km in 35:07 and Ryusa Furuya (Takushoku Daiichi H.S.) the high school boys' race in 29:54.

The former home of the 30 km world record, Kumamoto's Kumanichi Road Race is usually a faster race than Ome, but this year the men's race was more of a tense pack race til near the end. Mahiro Sato pulled away late to win in 1:31:51, the third big road title so far this year for the Konica Minolta corporate team following teammate Taiga Hirayama's wins at the Osaka Half Marathon and National Corporate Half Marathon. 2nd through 4th all finished within 7 seconds, Hinata Kuroki (Soka Univ.) taking 2nd in 1:32:25.

Higo Ginko teammates Eriko Otsuka, Miyu Kubo and Hina Tada ran most of the race together and finished close, Otsuka winning in 1:49:50, Kubo next in 1:50:00 and Tada 3rd in 1:50:07.

58th Ome Road Race

Ome, Tokyo, 15 Feb. 2026

complete results

Men's 30 km

1. Masato Arao (ND Software) - 1:30:54

2. Yudai Shimazu (GMO) - 1:31:58

3. Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:32:07

4. Akihiro Kaneko (Comodi Iida) - 1:32:20

5. Takumi Oishi (Suzuki) - 1:32:35

6. Takuma Akiyoshi (Tokyo Univ.) - 1:32:48

7. Yuichi Sato (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:33:56

8. Ryo Kuchimachi (Subaru) - 1:36:12

9. Ezekiel Cheboitibin (Kenya) - 1:36:42

10. Ruon Oikawa (ND Software) - 1:36:54

Women's 30 km

1. Shiori Zama (Shimamura) - 1:44:57

2. Asuka Yamamoto (Univ. Ent.) - 1:47:41

3. Anna Matsuda (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:52:32

4. Eri Suzuki (Kumashiro T&F Assoc.) - 1:55:53

5. Mitsuko Hirose (Tokyo Wings) - 1:57:39

High School Girls' 10 km

1. Haruka Ito (Komazawa H.S.) - 35:07

2. Reika Kitamura (Komazawa H.S.) - 35:41

3. Ayane Kobayashi (Komazawa H.S.) - 35:58

4. Yuho Fujii (Komazawa H.S.) - 36:27

5. Arisa Otsuka (Fussa H.S.) - 37:47

High School Boys' 10 km

1. Ryusa Furuya (Takushoku Daiichi H.S.) - 29:54

Kumanichi Road Race

Kumamoto, 15 Feb. 2026

complete results

Men's 30 km

1. Mahiro Sato (Konica Minolta) - 1:31:51

2. Hinata Kuroki (Soka Univ.) - 1:32:25

3. Koki Kobayashi (SG Holdings) - 1:32:31

4. Takuto Aramaki (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:32:32

5. Sota Sumihara (Aisan Kogyo) - 1:33:38

6. Kaito Iida (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:34:11

7. Yuito Nakamura (SG Holdings) - 1:34:34

8. Kento Otsu (Chuo Hatsujo) - 1:34:55

Women's 30 km

1. Eriko Otsuka (Higo Ginko) - 1:49:50

2. Miyu Kubo (Higo Ginko) - 1:50:00

3. Hina Tada (Higo Ginko) - 1:50:07

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR have announced details for the qualifying half marathon for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The Yosenkai qualifying race will be held Oct. 17 in Tachikawa, Tokyo. The combined times of the 10 fastest finishers from each participating team will be used for team scoring, with the 10 fastest teams going on the the main event next January and top-placing individuals from teams that do not qualify being names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team. One change from previous years is that the number of runners each school can enter has been increased from 14 to 16. Teams will still only be allowed to have from 10 to 12 athletes on the starting line, but the move gives coaches greater flexibility in making the final decision on their starting rosters. No changes have been made to the qualifying times of 34:00 for 10000 m or 1:13:00 for the half marathon, and the new earlier starting time of 8:30 a.m. introduced last year in an effort to mitigate ...

Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

2010 Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/21/10 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 47:53 2. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 48:07 3. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 49:43 4. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 51:37 5. Benita Willis (Australia) - 51:51 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) - 41:13 - WR 2. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 42:01 3. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 42:01 4. Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) - 43:03 5. Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia) - 43:08 ----- 14. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 45:31

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