Ogikubo Breaks Road 10 km NR - April Road Roundup

And now back to our regular schedule.

Two of Japan's best current marathoners, Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko), 6th in the Paris Olympics and 2nd in Berlin last fall in a 2:06:15 PB, and Shunya Kikuchi (Chugoku Denryoku), 7th in Osaka last year in a PB of 2:06:06, were supposed to be in on the wild action at the Boston Marathon and London Marathon, but both ended up scratching with injury. It's hard not to wonder what kind of dent they might have made, especially Akasaki.

In Kikuchi's absence London didn't have any elite-level Japanese athletes, and the only one in Boston was Mao Uesugi (Tokyo Metro), 2:22:11 in Nagoya last year. Uesugi went out relatively strongly but faded hard in the hills to finish only 26th in 2:34:38. One other Japanese woman, Sherry Drury, ran the BAA Mile held the Saturday before the marathon, finishing 6th in 4:43.26.

Bigger news the same day as the BAA Mile came in Spain, where Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) followed up his 1:00:22 half marathon PB in February with a 28:15 NR at the 10 km en Ruta Villa de Laredo. With college sophomore Shunsuke Kuwata (Komazawa Univ.) having gone through 10 km in 27:57 at the tough NYC Half last month, that's a national record that is still ripe for the picking.

Aiwa Sakaguchi (Bears) followed up her 2:31:50 win in her debut at last August's Hokkaido Marathon, a win that made her the first Japanese woman to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials, with her overseas debut at the Vienna Marathon. In a race that saw winner Tigist Gezahagn (Ethiopia) set a 2:20:06 CR, Sakaguchi was 9th in 2:37:12.

Back home, 2 big marathons were happening domestically. At the more important of the 2, the Nagano Marathon, Daichi Atsuura (ND Software) ran a nearly 4-minute PB of 2:12:08 to take the win in the men's race, almost exactly what his 1:02:54 PB at the Incheon Half in South Korea 3 weeks earlier predicted. Shuya Iwami (Sumitomo Denko) was the only other athlete under 2:15, 2nd in a 2:12:43 PB. Anna Matsuda (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) took the women's race in a conservative 2:39:43, close to 11 minutes slower than what she ran in Osaka last year.

Trail runner Kana Numata would have placed pretty well in Nagano, but her 2:44:30 was more than enough to win the Kasumigaura Marathon the same day in her home prefecture of Ibaraki. The top 4 women in Kasumigaura went under 2:50, beating Nagano's count of 3. Former Konica Minolta runner Gen Hachisuka (Oneship) won the men's race in 2:20:24. Mirei Onodera (Ishinomaki Senshu Univ.) had a close win in the women's 10-miler in Kasumigaura, beating club runner Aki Kowase by just 5 seconds in 1:00:43. Kiyoto Ono (Juntendo Univ.) won the men's 10-miler in 48:56.

The big road race this past weekend was the Gifu Seiryu Half. 1st in the Kanto Regionals D2 half marathon just 3 weeks ago, Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.) did a lot of the work to try to keep the men's race going at something close to a decent pace, going to the front repeatedly and quickly turning out to be the only Japanese man left in the Kenyan lead group of 6. Patrick Mosin had the strongest kick, winning in 1:00:35 with Boniface Mulwa (ND Software) 1 second back, Geoffrey Toroitich 3rd in 1:00:37, and both Kiprono Sitonik (Kurosaki Harima) and Yamaguchi's Soka teammate Stephen Muthini clocking 1:00:38 for 4th and 5th. Yamaguchi was 6th in 1:00:46, a 46-second PB that was pretty impressive given Gifu's rolling course.

The all-Kenyan lead group in the women's race in Gifu ground down from 6 at 15 km to a duel between 2022-2023 champ Dolphine Omare (Uniqlo) and last year's winner Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) by 20 km. Omare broke away in the last km, but in the home straight Nyiva came bearing back down on her again. Omare managed to hold Nyiva off, winning in 1:07:04 with Nyiva 2 seconds back in a 1:07:06 PB. Top Japanese finisher Kana Kobayashi (Otsuka Seiyaku) was 9th in 1:10:43.

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...

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Shikama and Njeri Win Sendai International Half Marathon

Shunsuke Shikama (Logisteed) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) won the Sendai International Half Marathon Sunday in Sendai, Shikama in 1:01:31 and Njeri in 1:09:20. Mizuki Nishimura (Tenmaya) was the top Japanese woman at 2nd overall. The men's race went through 5 km in 14:34 and 10 km in 29:22. Shikama ran alongside top competition including Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.), who has been running well in half marathons this season, and Tokyo World Championships marathon team member Naoki Koyama (Honda). On a course with many small ups and downs, Shikama attacked on a downhill just after 15 km, quickly breaking free of the lead group of 7. 13 seconds up by 20 km, Shikama covered the last 1.0975 km in 3:06 to seal his first Sendai title. A graduate of Juntendo University , Shikama is in his 4th season with Logisteed. At the 2024 National Corporate Half Marathon he ran 1:00:41, and at last year's East Japan Corporate Ekiden he won the Third Stage. In his marathon d...

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