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

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more

Mashiko Breaks U20 5000 m NR - Weekend Track Roundup

Saturday's Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto was the weekend's main event in Japanese track, but there were good results at the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama too. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) led the men's 5000 m A-heat at Kanakuri in 13:14.06, with Tomonori Yamaguchi (SGH) clocking the fastest Japanese time in 13:16.38 in his first race as a corporate leaguer. Waseda University duo Rui Suzuki and Yota Mashiko went 6-7 in 13:20.64 and 13:22.87, the 18-year-old Mashiko shaving 0.04 off the U20 NR. In 8th, Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) ran a PB of 13:23.92. 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) continued to struggle after a weak indoor season, finishing 18th of 20 finishers in 13:45.10. 19-year-old Festus Kimorwo (Kurosaki Harima) was under 13:20 in the B-heat too, winning in a 13:19.59 PB. 2 more collegiate men broke 13:30, Daichi Fujita (Chuo Univ.) 8th in 13:28.93 and Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) 9th in 13:29.09. The top 6 in the men's 800 m A-hea...
Post a Comment
Read more