Marathon Weekend Roundup

Alongside the weekend's 2 big 30 km races and college ekiden action, 4 of Japan's big mass-participation races with quality sub-elite fields happened across the country. The Kitakyushu Marathon just north of Fukuoka saw the fastest men's race up front, with Toyo University's Mashu Nishimura scoring the win in his debut in 2:16:14, outrunning Rio Olympian Hisanori Kitajima by 2 minutes. The Daihatsu corporate team's Yuki Shibata had a decent debut to win the women's race in 2:40:36.

The only one of the 4 marathons to be on the World Athletics calendar and visible to the rest of the world, the Kumamoto Castle men's race was almost as fast as in Kitakyushu, with amateur Hiroaki Furukawa taking a 5th win in 2:16:56 and 3 others under 2:20 like in Kitakyushu. Another amateur, women's winner Michiru Kato took her 5th win too, running a CR and PB 2:42:00.

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., the Kyoto Marathon had the fastest Japanese women's time of the weekend as Miyu Fukada of local Ritsumeikan University won by almost 6 minutes in a 2:37:39 CR. Local amateur Yuma Morii won for the 3rd time, the only won to break 2:20 at 2:17:38.

The Kochi Ryoma Marathon's women's race saw Hong Kong triathlete Leanne Szeto win in a PB 2:43:20 almost 5 minutes up on Japan's Mizuha Otaru. The men's race was a close one, with Takemaru Yamasaki edging Naoya Takayama by 8 seconds to win in 2:19:12.

Kitakyushu Marathon

Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 15 Feb. 2026

complete results

Men

1. Mashu Nishimura - 2:16:14 - debut

2. Hisanori Kitajima - 2:18:16

3. Keiichiro Tomomori - 2:18:40 - PB

4. Kohei Okada - 2:18:41 - PB

Women

1. Yuki Shibata - 2:40:36 - debut

2. Miho Hiraizumi - 2:41:20 - debut

3. Riko Ozawa - 2:47:54 - debut

Kumamoto Castle Marathon

Kumamoto, 15 Feb. 2026

complete results

Men

1. Hiroaki Furukawa - 2:16:56

2. Hyuma Abe - 2:18:08 - PB

3. Junpei Kato - 2:18:42 - PB

4. Takayuki Matsuura - 2:19:57 - debut

Women

1. Michiru Kato - 2:42:00 - CR, PB

2. Rui Miike - 2:48:44 - PB

3. Kanami Shigemoto - 2:50:18 - PB

Kyoto Marathon

Kyoto, 15 Feb. 2026

complete results

Men

1. Yuma Morii - 2:17:38

2. Tatsuya Itagaki - 2:20:56

3. Seiya Kusaka - 2:21:09

Women

1. Miyu Fukada - 2:37:39 - CR

2. Fuka Hirokawa - 2:43:25

3. Mikiko Ota - 2:50:06

Kochi Ryoma Marathon

Kochi, 15 Feb. 2026

complete results

Men

1. Takemaru Yamasaki - 2:19:12

2. Naoya Takayama - 2:19:20 - debut

3. Munehiro Harada - 2:20:46 - debut

Women

1. Leanne Szeto (Hong Kong) - 2:43:20 - PB

2. Mizuha Otaru - 2:48:12

3. Haruka Yamaguchi - 2:53:44

2026 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field

The Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon has great fields this year, so let's get right to it. The women's field has 3 of last year's top 10, winner for the 2nd year in a row and Tokyo CR holder Sutume Asefa Kebede , 3rd-placer and 2025 Chicago winner Hawi Feysa , and 5th-placer and 2025 Berlin winner Rosemary Wanjiru , plus 2024 Valencia winner Megertu Alemu , 2025 Prague winner Bertukan Welde , 2024 Paris winner Mestawut Fikir , 2024 Osaka winner Waganesh Mekasha , former WR holder Brigid Kosgei , and a lot more. Japanese hopes pretty much go to all-time #7 Ai Hosoda , 2:20:31 in Berlin 2024 but who announced this month that she is retiring after Tokyo despite having qualified for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th in Sydney last year. Other internationals include Canadian Malindi Elmore , American Sara Hall , a big Chinese group led by Yuyu Xia , Poland's Aleksandra Brzezińska and Australian Vanessa Wilson . The men's race has 5 of last year's top 1...

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance? Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance. This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere. It was put into place in 1986. In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made. Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km. When a bicycle is u...

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...

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