japan running news

The Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon was a strictly amateur race on the women's side, Chika Yokota running a 2:43:45 PB for the win. But with 6 spots at the L.A. Olympics marathon trials on the line all the Japanese men were obsessed over getting their places reserved early. 2 first-half falls knocked Ethiopian Abe Gashahun and 2024 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon winner Yota Ifuku out of the race, but the rest of the field rolled on steadily just under 3:00/km. The pace crew took them to 30 km in 1:29:45, 2:06:15 pace, and at that point there were still 20 in it including the home soil favorites Yuya Yoshida and Asahi Kuroda . Inside the last 10 km Ethiopian Getachew Masresha went to the front, followed initially by the debuting Takato Suzuki but let go by the rest of the pack. Once Masresha was about 10 seconds ahead Kuroda, the collegiate record holder and CR breaker on the Hakone Ekiden's legendary uphill Fifth Stage a month ago, picked it up in pursuit. After Kuroda ran ...

Dark horse Masato Arao and Paris Olympics marathon team alternate Ai Hosoda took the top Japanese spots in the TCS Sydney Marathon 's first edition as part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, both finishing 6th. Ranked 20th in the field, Arao, who this time last year was working a full-time job after not getting a corporate team contract post-college, came to Sydney for his international debut with the A-goal of making top 10 off a 1:30:50 win at the hilly Ome 30 km in February and an almost 10-minute PB of 2:08:05 in his second marathon at Tokyo in February. After driving the course and seeing the major hills in the first 15 km he opted out of going with the lead group, deciding to stick with the 2nd group on 2:08 pace until things leveled out after 15 km and seeing how it went. As it turned out the lead group with all the big names was a lot slower than planned, never more than a minute ahead of the 2nd group including Arao, Kento Kikutani , Kosei Machida and Australians Haft...

https://www.athletics.com.au/news/kipchoge-leads-unprecedented-mens-field-at-2025-tcs-sydney-marathon/

Results at this year's Berlin Marathon were big overall, with 6 women under 2:21 and 14 men under 2:07, and in both the women's and men's races multiple Japanese athletes had great days. In the women's race Paris Olympics marathon alternate Ai Hosoda (Edion) and Tokyo Olympics marathon alternate Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) ran the entire way together, 1:10:13 through halfway and 2:13:09 at 40 km. Hosoda had the better closing speed, finishing in an all-time Japanese #7 2:20:31 for 5th. Matsuda, who had previously broken 2:21 in her win at the 2022 Osaka International Women's Marathon, took 10 seconds off her time in that race for an all-time Japanese #8 2:20:42 for 6th. Having floated retirement after missing the Paris team, it was a great payoff for Matsuda's decision to give it one more go. Hosoda's 2:20 was a major breakthrough, but as her 5th time going under 2:22 Matsuda's performance solidified her position as one of Japan's best ever. After a ...

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...

Post-ekiden road season is up to full speed in Japan with two major races this Sunday. First up, the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon kicks off its 75th anniversary edition at 10:35 a.m. with an Aussie-heavy field and the usual domestic depth. Kenyan Nancy Jelagat is the class of the women's field on paper with a 1:05:21 in Berlin 2021, but without any race results in 2022 it's a question how she'll fare against Japan-based Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels), the Aussie trio of Sinead Diver , Eloise Wellings and Isobel Batt-Doyle , Brit Charlotte Purdue , American Sarah Pagano , and top-ranked domestic woman Rika Kaseda (Daihatsu). Sub-58 man Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) fronts the men's field, with Aussies Jack Rayner and Riley Cocks set to mix it up with debuting 27:20.34 man Cleophas Kandie (Mitsubishi Juko) and a million domestic men including sub-61 half marathoners Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) Takashi Namba (Toenec) and Yusuke Nishiyama ...

Kento Kikutani  (Toyota Boshoku) added a bit of drama to the Vienna City Marathon even before the disqualification of its original winner. 9th at February's record-breaking Lake Biwa Marathon in a PB of 2:07:26, Kikutani was the only one of the four Japanese men in Vienna to go with the lead pack. He stayed with them well into the second half before dropping off, but as the lead quartet slowed to set up for the last kick he came back, just making contact with the back of the group before the move came. Kikutani went into fourth, but with less than 2 km to go he suddenly stopped, walked, and then appeared to stretch out a cramp of other issue.  He dropped back to 5th by the time he made it across the line in 2:10:37, still good enough for the fastest time by a Japanese man overseas since Kenta Murayama 's 2:08:56 at the 2019 Berlin Marathon. It was a promising start to the post-Tokyo 2020 continuum. When initial winner Derara Hurisa  (Ethiopia) was disqualified for ...

In the last week or two, four major international marathons have announced elite fields that include Japanese athletes, mostly men. There aren't many homegrown elite-level races for them to pick from, either for men or women.  Postponed from the spring, despite corona numbers breaking new records almost daily the Tokyo Marathon is still scheduled to go ahead Oct. 17, a date that plops it right in the middle of ekiden season for both corporate men and especially women. The men-only Fukuoka International Marathon will hold its 75th and final running on Dec. 5, the traditional date that has contributed to its downfall due to a conflict with the New Year Ekiden less than four weeks later. The Hofu Marathon is two weeks after Fukuoka, even more in conflict with the New Year Ekiden, and with a World Athletics Elite Label this year it may be capitalizing on the void in women's racing opportunities by giving something approaching parity to its women's field. Or maybe not. With thos...

Good weather and a good field meant great racing at the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon . Shuji Yamamoto (Asahi Kasei) did a stellar job of ushering the pacing crew and lead pack of around 30 through 25 km, clocking 15:05, 15:10, 15:15, 15:15 and 15:10 for each 5 km before he stepped off. The remaining two pacers Matthew Sang and Alex Kipkorir held steady with a 15:10 through 30 km to deliver up the lead group on 2:08:07 pace, just under the Beppu-Oita course record of 2:08:15. Mirroring last year's Beppu-Oita winner Hicahm Laqouahi and since-disgraced Fukuoka winner El Mahjoub Dazza , Moroccan Hamza Sahli was quick to make a move to the front right after the pacers stepped off. But where his countrymen made off with their races, Sahli's move served more to shake off some of the pack, leaving a group of about a dozen stretched out behind him that regrouped with a few minutes. The debuting Kento Kikutani (Toyota Boshoku) was the next to go to the front just in time for ...