Skip to main content

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

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Keita Satoh Running New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile

1500 m U20 NR holder Keita Satoh (Nike Swoosh TC) is running this weekend's New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile , the first time that a Japanese man has been invited in the race's 45-year history. In university Sato had to change focus away from middle distance to the half marathon-scale lengths of the Hakone Ekiden stages, but since graduating in March and relocating to Flagstaff he has refocused on the 1500 m, going from 3:43.19 in April in his first 1500 m in almost 4 years to 3:38.30 over the course of 5 races. Fifth Avenue will be his last race before heading back to Japan for one more track 1500 m and some down time. Men's entries with best 1500 m times in last 3 years: Stefan Nillessen (NED) - 3:29.23 (2025) Flavien Szot (FRA) - 3:30.74 (2025) Oliver Hoare (AUS) - 3:31.07 (2024) Jake Heyward (GBR) - 3:31.18 (2026) Titouan Le Grix (FRA) - 3:31.46 (2026) Romain Mornet (FRA) - 3:31.62 (2025) Adam Spencer (AUS) - 3:31.83 (2026) Pieter Sisk (BEL) - 3:31.85 (2025) Gary Martin (...
2 comments
Read more

Multiple National Records This Weekend

Olympic and World champion Haruka Kitaguchi got the biggest headlines among Japanese athletes this weekend, overcoming a rough last year and a half that included injury and a coaching change to break her own javelin throw NR by over a meter and a half to win the inaugural WA Ultimate Championship in Budapest. U20 WR and Asian AR holder Ziyi Yan opened with a big 68.05, 0.67 m further than Kitaguchi's best-ever from back in 2023. That could have been the end, but Kitaguchi came back from a 61.15 m first attempt to throw a massive 68.92 m NR on her next one, ultimately enough for the win. She still has a long way to go to match the 18-year-old Yan's 71.74 m from May, but it was a clear statement that Kitaguchi is back. Back home at the National Corporate Track and Field Championships in Kyoto, women's pole vault NR holder Misaki Morota continued a solid comeback season of her own, bettering her NR from May by 1 cm with a 4.51 m on her first attempt. Morota took another 3...
Post a Comment
Read more