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Tsujihara Runs 8th-Fastest Collegiate Time Ever at Berlin Half


A big group of Japanese men ran the Berlin Half Marathon on Mar. 29. The top finisher among them, Hikaru Tsujihara (Koku Gakuin Univ.) ran 1:00:33 for 11th, the 8th-fastest time ever by a Japanese-born collegiate runner. The time improved his PB of 1:00:51 from last year's Marugame Half by 18 seconds. Tsujihara went on from that performance to set a CR on last October's Izumo Ekiden 4th leg, then was 9th on the 2nd leg at the National University Ekiden and 4th on the Hakone Ekiden's 4th leg.

Tsujihara's KGU teammate Yuta Asano was 12th in 1:01:12, a PB by 15 seconds over his time at this year's Marugame. Hikaru Ogawara (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was 20th in 1:01:30, another PB by 44 seconds ahead of his time in Marugame last year.

Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Logisteed) was 32nd in 1:02:51, Kosei Atomura (Koku Gakuin Univ.) 39th in 1:03:16, Aito Sato (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) 42nd in 1:03:40, and Itsuki Takaishi (Koku Gakuin Univ.) 43rd in 1:04:03.

Japanese-born Collegiate Half Marathon Top 10
59:30 - Kotaro Shinohara (4th yr., Komazawa Univ.) - Marugame Half, 2 Feb. 2025
1:00:06 - Shinsaku Kudo (2nd yr., Waseda Univ.) - Marugame Half, 2 Feb., 2025
1:00:13 - Shunsuke Kuwata (2nd yr., Komazawa Univ.) - NYC Half, 15 Mar. 2026
1:00:26 - Kento Baba (3rd yr., Rikkyo Univ.) - Marugame Half, 2 Feb. 2025
1:00:30 - Ryuto Uehara (3rd yr., Koku Gakuin Univ.) - Marugame Half, 2 Feb. 2025
1:00:31 - Reishi Yoshida (3rd yr., Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - Marugame Half, 5 Feb. 2023
1:00:32 - Yudai Kiyama (3rd yr., Komazawa Univ.) - Marugame Half, 2 Feb. 2025
1:00:33 - Hikaru Tsujihara (3rd yr., Koku Gakuin Univ.) - Berlin Half, 29 Mar. 2026
1:00:40 - Chikara Yamano (3rd yr., Komazawa Univ.) - Nat'l Corp. Half, 13 Feb. 2022
1:00:43 - Ayumu Yamamoto (1st yr., Koku Gakuin Univ.) - Nat'l Corp. Half, 13 Feb. 2022
1:00:43 - Kazuki Matsuyama (2nd yr., Toyo Univ.) - Nat'l Corp. Half, 13 Feb. 2022

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