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

World Marathon Majors Japanese Entries

We're back from a short summer break. A week and a half out from the first race of the season's four World Marathon Majors races, here's a look at Japanese athletes scheduled to run. Everything right now is about qualifying for the MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to be held in the fall of 2027 in Nagoya. The JAAF makes no mistake about wanting to keep its top people racing domestically where it can get a share of revenue from the TV broadcast and race operations, so anyone who decides to race overseas has to do it in a WA platinum label race and hit either 2:06:30 or 2:23:30, regardless of place, course or weather if they want to make the trials. At the same time concessions are make for domestic races, like for example the late-August Hokkaido Marathon where up to 3 men and 3 women can qualify if they go 2:12:00 or 2:32:00. As a result, you get things like last year where amateur runner Yudai Fukuda made the trials by finishing 3rd Jap...

Nakajima Breaks 100 mH NR Twice, Kitaguchi Returns - August Track Roundup

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Asian Games Competition Schedule

The daily athletics event schedule for September's Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games . Wednesday, Sept. 23 7:30 - Women's / Men's Half Marathon Race Walk Final Thursday, Sept. 24 10:00 - Women's Heptathlon 100 mH 10:20 - Mixed 4x400 m Relay Heats 10:30 - Men's Triple Jump Heats 10:40 - Women's Heptathlon High Jump 19:05 - Men's High Jump Heats 19:13 - Women's Heptathlon Shot Put 19:33 - Women's 100 m Heats 19:44 - Women's Triple Jump Final 20:08 - Men's 100 m Heats 20:55 - Men's Discus Throw Final 21:00 - Women's Heptathlon 200 m 21:25 - Women's 10000 m Final 22:15 - Mixed 4x400 m Relay Final Friday, Sept. 25 10:00 - Women's Heptathlon Long Jump 10:30 - Men's 400 m Heats 11:25 - Women's Heptathlon Javelin Throw 19:05 - Women's Shot Put Final 19:13 - Women's 100 m Semifinal 19:33 - Men's 100 m Semifinal 20:03 - Women's Pole Vault Final 20:11 - Women's Heptathlon 800 m 20:32 - Men's 10000 m Final 20:40 - M...

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