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Sato and Fukunaga Win Fukui Sakura Marathon


The lead group took a shot at sub-2:10 in the men's race at the Fukui Sakura Marathon, with a group of 7 going through halfway in 1:04:40 before things started to come apart. By 25 km it was down to 4, and at 30 km only Koki Sato and Hiromasa Ishikawa were left, hitting it in 1:32:09, 2:09:37 pace. Neither could hold that til the end, but Sato held on best as he broke the tape in 2:11:07, a PB by 6 seconds and a new Fukui CR. Ishikawa took 2nd in 2:12:24 in his debut, with amateur Yudai Fukuda 3rd in 2:13:16.

Fuka Fukunaga had a solo run in her debut, hitting halfway in 1:16:55 with a 50-second lead over local Momoko Yao and turning that into a win by 2:10 in 2:37:00. Mai Arizuka moved into 3rd just before 30 km and stayed there til the end, running 2:43:33.

Runners from NTT Nishi Nihon swept the men's 5 km top 5, all under the old CR with Haruki Minatoya winning in 13:43. Bears runners took the top 3 in the women's 5 km, Saki Matsui getting the win in 16:23.

Fukui Sakura Marathon

Fukui, 29 March 2026

Men
1. Koki Sato (Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:07 - CR, PB
2. Ryuga Ishikawa (Chuo Hatsujo) - 2:12:24 - debut
3. Yudai Fukuda (Ishikawa T&F) - 2:13:16
4. Mahiro Sato (Konica Minolta) - 2:15:27 - debut
5. Sho Ota (Chuo Hatsujo) - 2:20:17 - debut

Women
1. Fuka Fukunaga (Edion) - 2:37:00 - debut
2. Momoko Yao (Fukui T&F) - 2:39:10
3. Mai Arizuka (Wayz) - 2:43:33 - PB
4. Erina Tanimachi (Fukui T&F) - 2:48:27 - debut
5. Ayaka Furukawa (Frontier) - 2:51:17

Men's 5 km
1. Haruki Minatoya (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 13:43 - CR
2. Sakito Matsuzaki (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 13:46 (CR)
3. Benson Kiplangat (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 13:47 (CR)
4. Kazuma Hattori (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 13:48 (CR)
5. Taishi Ito (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 13:50 (CR)
6. Yuto Hirosawa (Konica Minolta) - 13:56

Women's 5 km
1. Saki Matsui (Bears) - 16:23
2. Momoyo Hirota (Bears) - 16:32
3. Rizuna Yaji (Bears) - 16:56

© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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