japan running news

This was maybe the most entertaining marathon in years. After rocking the 2nd leg at last year's Hakone Ekiden Hibiki Yoshida (Sunbelx) ran an incredible 1:01:01 CR for the 21.9 km New Year Ekiden 2nd leg last month, equivalent to a 58:47 half marathon. That predicted a 2:03:27 marathon if he ever ran one, and when Yoshida announced he was debuting at this year's Osaka Marathon he wasted no time in saying it'd be a shot at the 2:04:55 NR. Things went out fast enough with a 14:50 split through 5 km, 2:05:11 pace, but Yoshida just couldn't hold back and took off at 8 km. He clearly DGAF about what was probably going to happen as his projected finish kept getting faster, 2:04:41, 2:04:15, 2:03:51, 2:03:40, edging closer and closer to what his New Year time predicted, but not helped along by the fact that he missed 4 out of his first 5 drink bottles. People laughed, and then cheered him on. 30 km was the first time he slowed, his finish projection dropping to 2:03:53, an...

The Fukuoka International Marathon is back Dec. 7 with exactly the kind of boutique field it's had over the decades. Up front are two of the home soil stars from February's Osaka Marathon, Kyohei Hosoya , 2:05:58, and Shunya Kikuchi , 2:06:06. Their toughest competition comes from Djibouti NR holder and 2023 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon winner Ibrahim Hassan , 2:06:13, and Yusuke Nishiyama , who ran a 2:06:31 PB in Tokyo last year despite getting caught up in a fall in the early going. There's a layer of 5 2:07 men, 3 at 2:08 and a lone 2:09 runner below them, a total of 6 sub-2:10 Japanese men competing for 6 places at the L.A. Olympic marathon trials for anyone who goes under 2:09 here with support from 7 internationals from 5 countries. The Konica Minolta corporate team hasn't shown incredible aptitude for the marathon, but its 1:01:04 half marathoner Ren Yonemitsu is an interesting debut. Check back closer to race date for info on streaming and following from out...

In its 71st edition the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon saw new course records in both the women's and men's races. On a cold and slightly windy day Japan-based Ethiopian Zeyituna Husan took advantage of the big crowds of amateur men at her pace, going through halfway in 1:14:44 en route in her debut to win in 2:31:41. Her time took 1:19 off the previous record set in 2018 by Hiroko Yoshitomi . Excellent pacing that saw every 5 km split through 30 km in the men's race land in the 15:01 to 15:03 range and a big pack that rolled with it set up a tough last 12 km. Djibouti's Ibrahim Hassan inched it up a notch as soon as the pacers were done, covering the next two 5 km in 14:59 each. That gave him a short lead over Kenyan Daniel Kipchumba , but Hassan almost lost it. Deeply in the zone, he didn't notice the turn into the stadium for the track finish and ran into the back of the camera truck. Kipchumba surged to take advantage of Hassan's loss, but Hassan managed t...