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With people like Tokyo Olympics 10000 m gold medalist Selemon Barega, 57:50 for the half marathon, and 59:30 collegiate record co-holder Richard Etir in the race the men went out in a leisurely 14:52 for the downhill first 5 km, with Sydney Marathon 6th placer Masato Arao in the lead and a pack of over 50 in tow. Victor Kipchirchir made a couple of tries to get things moving, shaking the front pack down to 16 by 10 km and 9 by 15 km. Things really broke up on the same hill that featured near the end of the Tokyo World Championships marathons, leaving it down to Barega, Etir, Benard Kimeli and Paul Kuira with 1 km to go.
Barega and Etir were head-to-head heading onto the track, and even though Etir tried to pull off a replay of the Tokyo Worlds men’s marathon finish Barega hung on for the win with both of them clocking 1:01:22. Kimeli was 3rd in 1:01:34, with 5000 m NR holder Suguru Osako taking the top Japanese spot in 1:01:45 in his road debut in Li Ning shoes. After dropping back when things took off, early leader Arao rallied to pass Hakone Ekiden First Stage CR holder Yamato Yoshii on the hill, taking 8th in 1:02:12 as the only man in the top 10 to run a PB.
The women’s race went out more conservatively than planned too. In her half marathon debut former Japan resident Rebecca Mwangi hoped to hit a sub-67 time, but along with #1-ranked Janet Nyiva, 1:07:37 in Gifu this past spring, and debuting Ethiopian Meskerem Mamo they only went out on low-1:09 pace. Mwangi and Nyiva pushed it ever so slightly after that, their projected finish dropping to 1:08:55 by 10 km, and from there Mwangi kept incrementing it up.
In the end Mwangi won it in 1:08:46, Nyiva falling 23 seconds back for 2nd in 1:09:09. Mamo faded hard over the 2nd half but still didn’t have any serious threats from the Japanese competition, taking 3rd in 1:10:58 with top Japanese finisher Kaede Kawamura far back in 4th in 1:11:42. Just behind her, former top-tier track runner Kaede Hagitani had an OK debut after deciding to come out of retirement, taking 5th in 1:11:59. 7th-place Ayaka Shimoyamada was the only woman in the top 10 to run a PB, clocking 1:13:33.
Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon
Tokyo, 19 Oct. 2025
Men
1. Selemon Barega (Ethiopia) – 1:01:22
2. Richard Etir (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) – 1:01:22
3. Benard Kimeli (Kenya/Fujitsu) – 1:01:34
4. Paul Kuira (Kenya/JR Higashi Nihon) – 1:01:40
5. Benard Langat (Kenya/Honda) – 1:01:42
6. Suguru Osako (Li Ning) – 1:01:45
7. Victor Kipchirchir (Kenya) – 1:02:01
8. Masato Arao (ND Software) – 1:02:12 – PB
9. Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) – 1:02:26
10. Vincent Raimoi (Kenya/Suzuki) – 1:02:35
11. Go Kiriyama (Suzuki) – 1:02:37
12. Ichitaka Yamashita (Mitsubishi Juko) – 1:02:50
13. Bedan Karoki (Kenya/Toyota) – 1:02:54
14. Ethan Shuley (U.S.A.) – 1:03:06 – PB
15. Yujiro Koshiba (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) – 1:03:08 – PB
Women
1. Rebecca Mwangi (Kenya) – 1:08:46 – debut
2. Janet Nyiva (Kenya/Panasonic) – 1:09:09
3. Meskerem Mamo (Ethiopia) – 1:10:58 – debut
4. Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) – 1:11:42
5. Kaede Hagitani (Saku T&F Assoc.) – 1:11:59 – debut
6. Madoka Nakano (Iwatani Sangyo) – 1:13:27
7. Ayaka Shimoyamada (Sysmex) – 1:13:33 – PB
8. Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) – 1:14:29
9. Natsuki Ogawa (Suzuki) – 1:14:51
10. Yuna Arai (Sekisui Kagaku) – 1:16:14
© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Brett Larner – Japan Running News
