Nationals, Fukuoka 2020 and More – Weekend Preview

The 9:30.00 standard in the women’s 3000 mSC is faster than the Japanese national record, and with defending national champ Reimi Yoshimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) the closest at 9:49.30 there’s not much chance that spot will get taken barring a big step up from her. Her main competition is Yuno Yamanaka (Ehime Ginko), close behind on PB at 9:50.05, with two other women under 10 minutes in the field. The men’s 3000 mSC just lost the only athlete to have run under the Olympic standard, Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.), to a last-minute training accident, but with Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) leading five men including defending champ Ryohei Sakaguchi ((SGH Group) within eight seconds of the 8:22.00 standard there’s a chance someone might break through and pull it off.

Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) was one of two Japanese women to break 15 minutes for 5000 m this fall, and with the other one running the 10000 m she’s the favorite for the win. Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) and Kaede Hagitani (Edion) have also run faster than the 15:10.00 Olympic standard this season, and with only six seconds separating them it should be a great race that sees someone pick up an Olympic spot. Yuta Bando (Fujitsu) is the closest man to the 13:13.50 Olympic standard, but with a best of 13:22.60 it’ll be more of a race for the national title than a shot at the Olympics. Hideyuki Tanaka (Toyota) and defending champ Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) are the only other Japanese men under 13:25.

With a 30:31 10 km split en route at the Queens Ekiden last month, over a minute faster than 2019 women’s 10000 m champ Rina Nabeshima (Japan Post), Hitomi Niiya (Sekisui Kagaku) is the heavy favorite for the win in the 10000 m. The national record of 30:48.89 seems bound to fall. But Niiya did blow it at Nationals last year, and if she has anything going wrong this time Nabeshima and marathoner Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) may have a chance of taking her down again. If she’s on and they let her go, there’s a distant chance Niiya could lap 2nd place again like she did when she set the Nationals meet record of 31:05.67 in 2013.

There are so many men in the 10000 m that it’s split into two heats. The fast heat has 5000 m and marathon national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike), who seems like he has the best chance of bettering the national record to hit the 27:28.00 Olympic standard. But he’s already bound for the marathon in the Olympics, so it’d be a surprise to see him go for it. His main competition includes ekiden star Akira Aizawa (Asahi Kasei) and half marathon national record holder Yusuke Ogura (Yakult), with all-time Japanese 10000 m top two Kota Murayama (Asahi Kasei) and Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) also in the field.

The next day, the National Corporate Women’s Long Distance Trials meet will be on in Yamaguchi. It’s usually one of the best women’s 10000 m races in the world, but with the top tier all racing the day before it’s split more between 3000 m, 5000 m and 10000 m this time with a mix of second-tier people, Japan-based Africans, and a few who probably should have been at Nationals but didn’t make the cut. Hagitani is entered in the 3000 m, with other notable names including Martha Mokaya (Canon), Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Meijo Univ.) and Risa Yokoe (Panasonic) in the 5000 m, and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo), Husan Zeyituna (Denso), Rei Ohara (Tenmaya), Reia Iwade (Chiba T&F Assoc.) and Hiromi Katakai (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) in the 10000 m.

Always big, the Nittai University Time Trials in Kanagawa will be one of the last main tune-ups for the Mt. Fuji Women’s Ekiden, New Year Ekiden and Hakone Ekiden, Saturday focusing on men’s 10000 m and Sunday split between women’s 3000 m, women’s 5000 m and men’s 5000 m. Iwade is entered in the 5000 m here too, but overall it’s definitely third-tier on the women’s side. The men’s side is a lot like the Yamaguchi meet, with a mix of Japan-based Africans, people who didn’t quite make it to Nationals, and solid second-tier runners. The Konica Minolta, Sumitomo Denko and Kanebo corporate teams are all heavy presences in the 5000 m, with Honda, Hitachi Butsuryu and Kyudenko the same in the 10000 m.

On the roads Sunday, one of the oldest ekidens in Japan, western Tokyo’s Okutama Keikoku Ekiden, is set to go ahead with its 82nd running. It’ll be one of the only non-championship ekidens to happen in a season that has seen even some of the national championship ones canceled. There are usually a few Hakone-bound universities in the field with their B or C-squads plus good high school, club, and minor corporate league teams. Marathoner Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) is entered in the women’s race two days after running the 10000 m at Nationals.

But, if you’ve read this far you’re probably looking for the main event, Sunday’s Fukuoka International Marathon. COVID-19 restrictions are keeping it strictly limited to Japanese and Japan-based athletes, but with things the way they have been the last couple of years that’s still a really good field. Despite the loss of its fastest entrant, 2:06:45 man Ryu Takaku (Yakult) to injury, Fukuoka still has 2018 champ Yuma Hattori (Toyota) and pending 2019 champ Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) on the list, with training partner Bedan Karoki (Toyota) there to try to guide them to a national record.

At 2:05:29 that’s no joke, but Hattori has been totally focused on it this season and seems to have been clearing his targets en route to the Fukuoka start line. If the weather is good it’s hard to see him not going under his 2:07:27 best from his Fukuoka win two years ago. Fujimoto is harder to read, but with a 1:00:06 half marathon PB in February he should at least be there with Hattori until the late stages. Eight other current sub-2:10 men are also on the list, with Michael Githae (Suzuki) the top non-Japanese entrant at 2:09:21. Sub-62 half marathoners Ryota Sato (Tokyo Police Dep’t) and Cyrus Kingori (Hiramatsu Byoin) are interesting first-timers who could drop good debuts, but realistically it looks like it’s mostly going to be about the teamwork between the Toyota trio.

A deeper English-language field listing can be had here. TV Asahi will broadcast the Fukuoka International Marathon starting at 12:00 p.m. Sunday Japan time. There doesn’t look to be an official live stream, but if you’re not in Japan, options like mov3.co, iTVer, and TVJapanLive that might work.