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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

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

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

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

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 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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