Tokyo Marathon 2020 Race Preview by Tad HayanoTokyo Marathon Race Director
Since the change of the finish location in 2017, new records are brought forth from the flat and fast paced course. I believe through this, we have gained greater recognition as an event reaching the “global standard”.
Two years ago, Yuta Shitara (Honda) made a new history, breaking the national record with 2:06:11 for the first time in 16 years. The Japan Industrial Track & Field Association awarded Shitara for this great achievement with 100 million yen through the strengthening program “PROJECT EXCEED”, gathering grand focus. Last year, it was a tough condition for the athletes with drastic temperature drop from midway, but despite, Birhanu Legese (ETH) kept the speed finishing strong under 2:05 and showed us the global-standard race.
This year, as being the 14th edition of the Tokyo Marathon, we can expect it to be more exciting.
In the men’s line up, our defending champion Legese will be joining. He missed the win at Berlin Marathon in September of last year, but he finished with incredible time of 2:02:48. He rewrote his personal best, and will be returning to Tokyo much stronger. Winner of the last year’s Dubai Marathon Getaneh Molla (ETH), and the third finisher Sisay Lemma (ETH) both has the record under 2:04. Dickson Chumba (KEN) as the only athlete with multiple wins at Tokyo will also join, making it total five athletes holding record time under 2:05.
I believe Legese will lead the race to bring record time under 2:03, marking the fastest record achieved within Japan.
In addition, we can expect intense race among the Japanese athletes, fighting for the last ticket to enter the Tokyo 2020 Olympic marathon, for our race serves as the selection trial “Marathon Grand Championship (MGC) Final Challenge”. We can greatly look forward to a battle between the current and past national record holders of the same age, Suguru Osako (Nike) and Shitara. And along, we can expect Hiroto Inoue (MHPS) with time record of 2:06:54 in Tokyo Marathon 2018 to keep up.
To win the last ticket to the Tokyo 2020, one must clear the time of 2:05:49 set by Japan Association of Athletics Federation. If no one clears the time, Osako who finished third in MGC race in last September will be appointed. Osako could have chosen not to enter the race and waited for the days to pass by. But instead, he chose to enter the battle. His willpower is something like no other, and perhaps, his pride as the national record holder is what fuels him.
For Shitara, Tokyo is a familiar course, maybe with positive image still lingering from the national record he achieved. He seems carefree, but definitely has strong feeling towards Osako, who he has been competing against since college. We can expect him to go on the race in fast pace from early on, with the mindset in breaking the current national record.
With Inoue, I still remember the great impression I received from him two years ago when he declared his goal time of 2:06:00. It proved that his mindset has always been set to compete in the world-class-level. It was unfortunate outcome for him at the MGC, but in the New Year Ekiden 2020, he set a new record for the fourth leg proving his comeback.
The highlight of the event is observing how they have come to prepare for the race, and witnessing their fight. Depending on the weather, new national record can be expected greatly.
At the moment, I am planning to implement two different paces. The first group featuring Legese and rest of African athletes, will be led in pace to finish under 2:03. The second group will be led targeting finish time between 2:04:40-2:05:30. With the ambition to win the last ticket to Tokyo 2020, we can expect majority of Japanese athletes to keep up. The Pacer will only lead up to 30km, and therefore, athlete must save the strength for the last segment, and from there, I look forward to how the game will shift.
Yuki Sato (Nissin Foods Holdings) and Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) with great potential will also be joining to add more excitement. In 2016 at the 10th edition of the event, we witnessed Murayama keeping up with the lead group until 22km, and not to mention, he was the only Japanese. Moreover, many athletes lined up at the MGC in last September will also be joining. We will not be able to take our eyes off to see who will finish first.
In recent years, the Japanese marathon has revitalized. Since the unsatisfying results at the Rio 2016, different approach was implemented to strengthen the marathon athletes, and in result, it brought change. The 100-million-yen bonus and the selection trial MGC correspondingly encouraging faster result times, where the national record was rewritten twice by Shitara and Osako, the ambition to break 2:05 or 2:06 has also risen among many athletes. Truly, I hope that Tokyo Marathon that meets global standard will also contribute to this enhancement.
For the women’s field, the excitement runs high for the foreign athletes. The defending champion Ruti Aga (ETH) will be racing joined by Birhane Debaba (ETH) with the record of 2:18:46 aiming for the win. Moreover, there are three other athletes who have personal record time within 2:19. The world class battle centering on the African athletes will take place.
Your emotions will run high from watching world class performance of Legese and the others running to achieve 2:02. With Japanese athletes aiming for the last ticket to Tokyo 2020, we can expect them to go for fast split times and the crowds will go wild as the possibility of witnessing the new national record becomes higher. It may be a day with new history. With the course and the athletes that we are proud to present, please enjoy the “global standard” race, the Tokyo Marathon 2020.
ELITE ATHLETES (MEN)
No. Name Nationality Club Age cm kg Qlfd Time&Year PersonalBestTime 1 LEGESE, Birhanu ETH 25 168 55 2:02:48 2019 2:02:48 2 MOLLA, Getaneh ETH 26 176 66 2:03:34 2019 2:03:34 3 LEMMA, Sisay ETH 29 175 67 2:03:36 2019 2:03:36 4 MENGSTU, Asefa ETH 32 172 55 2:04:06 2018 2:04:06 5 CHUMBA, Dickson KEN 33 167 50 2:05:30 2018 2:04:32 6 LEMI, Hayle ETH 25 179 59 2:05:09 2019 2:04:33 7 EL ABBASSI, El Hassan BRN 35 170 52 2:04:43 2018 2:04:43 8 EKIRU, Titus KEN 28 173 58 2:04:46 2019 2:04:46 9 KIPRUTO, Amos KEN 27 168 54 2:05:43 2017 2:05:43 10 KAROKI, Bedan KEN DeNA 29 173 55 2:05:53 2019 2:05:53 11 ADBI, Bashir BEL 31 178 64 2:06:14 2019 2:06:14 21 OSAKO,Suguru Nike 28 168 53 2:05:50 2018 2:05:50 22 SHITARA,Yuta Honda 28 170 48 2:06:11 2018 2:06:11 23 INOUE,Hiroto MHPS 27 165 51 2:06:54 2018 2:06:54 24 YAMAMOTO,Kenji 30 165 53 2:08:42 2019 2:08:42 25 MURAYAMA,Kenta 27 175 55 2:08:56 2019 2:08:56 26 SATO,Yuki 33 178 59 2:08:58 2018 2:08:58 27 SONODA,Hayato 30 166 50 2:09:34 2018 2:09:34 28 KAMINO,Daichi 26 165 46 2:10:18 2018 2:10:18 29 HORIO,Kensuke 23 183 61 2:10:21 2019 2:10:21 30 KAWAI,Daiji 28 176 54 2:10:50 2019 2:10:50 31 DAIROKUNO,Shuho 27 168 51 27:46.55 10000m 27:46.55 101 MIYAWAKI,Chihiro 28 176 57 2:08:45 2018 2:08:45 102 UEKADO,Daisuke 26 175 59 2:09:27 2017 2:09:27 103 HASHIMOTO,Ryo GMO 26 172 55 2:09:29 2019 2:09:29 104 IWATA,Yuji MHPS 32 170 54 2:09:30 2019 2:09:30 105 SIMON,Kariuki 23 178 59 2:09:41 2019 2:09:41 106 ISSHIKI,Tadashi GMO 25 169 55 2:09:43 2018 2:09:43 107 TAKAKU,Ryu 27 169 54 2:10:02 2019 2:10:02 108 TANAKA,Asuka 30 175 57 2:10:13 2018 2:10:13 109 YAMAGISHI,Hiroki GMO 28 170 54 2:10:14 2018 2:10:14 110 FUJIKAWA,Takuya 27 163 49 2:10:35 2019 2:10:35 111 OISHI,Minato 31 162 49 2:10:39 2017 2:10:39 112 TAKAMIYA,Yuki 32 173 56 2:11:05 2017 2:10:57 113 TAKEUCHI,Ryoma 27 175 60 2:11:20 2019 2:11:20 114 KIYOTANI,Takumi 31 178 62 2:11:24 2019 2:11:24 115 SANO,Hiroaki Honda 32 175 52 2:11:24 2017 2:09:12 116 TAKAHASHI,Yuta 26 171 58 2:11:25 2019 2:11:25 117 HAMASAKI,Tatsunori AC 31 172 56 2:11:26 2017 2:11:26 118 OKAMOTO,Naoki 35 176 56 2:11:29 2018 2:11:29 119 KIKUCHI,Masato 29 173 57 2:11:53 2019 2:11:53 120 SUZUKI,Tadashi 31 178 59 2:12:09 2017 2:12:09 121 OGURA,Yusuke 26 169 54 2:12:10 2019 2:12:10 122 KIMURA,Shin Honda 26 172 53 2:12:12 2019 2:12:12 123 YAMAZAKI,Syota 29 168 56 2:12:15 2018 2:12:15 124 NAKAMURA,Yasuyuki 35 170 58 2:12:22 2019 2:12:22 125 TANAKA,Keisuke 31 178 62 2:12:41 2018 2:12:41 126 KUSAKA,Keisuke 28 176 59 2:12:42 2017 2:12:42 127 MATSUI,Tomoyasu 27 166 50 2:12:51 2019 2:12:51 128 KURATA,Shohei GMO 27 171 56 2:13:16 2017 2:13:16 129 TAKASE,Muryo 31 171 50 2:13:28 2019 2:12:31 130 HATTORI,Shota Honda 28 164 53 2:13:30 2019 2:13:30 131 SAKAI,Masanori 33 175 58 2:13:31 2018 2:09:10 132 SUMIDA,Masanori 24 165 55 2:13:33 2019 2:13:33 133 SHIMODA,Yuta GMO 23 169 54 2:13:42 2019 2:11:34 134 KOIZUMI,Yoshiki 26 165 51 2:13:50 2018 2:13:50 135 IINUMA,Kenta SG 32 173 55 2:13:55 2019 2:13:43 136 IWASA,Issei 22 167 56 2:14:00 2018 2:14:00 137 TAKESHITA,Kazuki 24 162 49 2:14:14 2019 2:14:14 138 MORIHASHI,Kansuke 26 182 63 2:14:17 2019 2:14:17 139 DEGUCHI,Kazuya RC 31 178 72 2:14:24 2018 2:14:24 140 NAKAMURA,Takahiro 36 172 54 2:14:25 2018 2:14:25 141 MATSUO,Shuji 28 169 58 2:14:27 2019 2:14:27 142 SHITARA,Keita 28 169 49 2:14:31 2019 2:14:31 143 MAKINO,Saeki 32 181 60 2:14:36 2019 2:14:36 144 JIROMARU,Kenichi 35 182 65 2:14:48 2018 2:14:48 145 MORIKAWA,Shouhei 29 173 57 2:14:53 2018 2:14:53 146 MATSUI,Masaki 26 169 54 2:14:54 2018 2:14:54 147 FUKUSHIMA,Hiromasa 32 171 57 2:14:56 2019 2:14:56 148 ONISHI,Junki 27 171 57 2:15:00 2018 2:15:00 149 OSHITA,Kohei 25 169 53 2:15:09 2018 2:15:09 150 IKEDA,Soji 33 163 53 2:15:21 2017 2:10:59 151 MOMOZAWA, Daisuke 27 168 52 2:15:23 2019 2:15:23 152 KAWAGUCHI,Masahiro 34 177 59 2:15:26 2019 2:13:27 153 KANAMORI,Hiroto 26 165 50 2:15:37 2019 2:15:37 154 KUMAHASHI,Hiromasa 25 163 45 2:15:49 2018 2:15:49 155 HASHIRA,Kinya 32 171 60 2:15:51 2018 2:15:51 156 SADAKATA,Toshiki MHPS 27 171 59 2:15:53 2019 2:15:53 157 KUNISHI,Hiroto 26 167 57 2:15:59 2019 2:15:59 158 NISHIYAMA,Ryohei 26 171 59 2:16:00 2018 2:15:42 159 TAKAHASHI,Masato TRACK TOKYO 26 171 53 2:16:07 2019 2:16:07 160 OTANI,Kouta JFE 32 179 59 2:16:24 2018 2:16:24 161 MARUYAMA,Tatsuya 25 165 50 2:16:27 2019 2:16:27 162 KAIJO,Tomohiro 31 172 58 2:16:32 2019 2:16:32 163 TAKADA,Koki 26 171 55 2:16:32 2019 2:16:32 164 MATSUMOTO,Nobuyuki 28 169 50 2:16:37 2019 2:16:37 165 SUGIMOTO,Shun 25 176 59 2:16:45 2019 2:16:45 166 YOTTSUJI,Tsuyoshi 23 167 53 2:16:53 2019 2:16:53 167 KADOTA,Hiroki 34 174 65 2:16:57 2017 2:10:46 168 KAZAMI,Nao 36 170 55 2:16:58 2019 2:16:58 169 KANEKO,Akihiro 25 171 52 2:17:06 2019 2:17:06 170 KINDE, Yonas IOC 39 174 58 2:17:12 2019 2:17:12 171 NAKAMURA,Yoshiki 25 171 55 2:17:10 2019 2:17:10 172 HOSOMORI,Daisuke YKK 25 179 59 2:17:14 2019 2:17:14
ELITE ATHLETES (WOMEN)
No. Name Nationality Club Age cm kg Qlfd Time&Year PersonalBestTime 51 AGA, Ruti ETH 26 152 44 2:18:34 2018 2:18:34 52 DIBABA, Birhane ETH 26 160 48 2:18:46 2019 2:18:46 53 AIYABEI, Valary KEN 28 155 38 2:19:10 2019 2:19:10 54 CEMTAI SALPETER, Lonah ISR 31 165 48 2:19:46 2019 2:19:46 55 GIRMA, Tigist ETH 26 168 55 2:19:52 2019 2:19:52 56 GEBRU, Azmera ETH 24 160 48 2:20:48 2019 2:20:48 57 DEMISE, Shure ETH 24 167 56 2:21:05 2019 2:20:59 58 CHEPYEGO KAPTICH, Selly KEN 34 160 42 2:21:06 2019 2:21:06 59 ESHETE, Shitaye BRN 29 155 45 2:21:33 2019 2:21:33 60 LEMA, Marta ETH 29 162 46 2:22:35 2018 2:22:35 61 ASEFA KEBEDE, Sutume ETH 25 160 47 2:23:31 2019 2:23:31 62 TEFERI, Senbere ETH 24 159 45 2:24:11 2018 2:24:11 63 DEELSTRA, Andrea NED 34 164 2:31:29 2019 2:26:46 64 CLIFF, Rachel CAN 31 163 47 2:26:56 2019 2:26:56 301 YAMAGUCHI, Haruka AC·KITA 32 167 49 2:27:39 2019 2:27:39 302 YOSHIDA,Kaori TEAM R×L 38 155 42 2:28:24 2017 2:28:24 303 NOGUCHI,Risa 30 159 44 2:28:32 2017 2:28:09 304 DOI,Yurie 31 164 54 2:29:49 2018 2:29:49 305 KANESHIGE,Shiho GRlab 30 154 41 2:31:56 2019 2:31:56 306 KINOSHITA,Yumiko 33 154 42 2:34:19 2019 2:34:19 307 ISAKA,Nao RUNS 25 160 2:36:48 2019 2:36:48 308 YOSHIMATSU,Hisae 40 164 45 2:37:01 2018 2:28:49 309 INO,Mitsuko 36 165 48 2:39:04 2019 2:34:39 310 TAKAHAMA,Kasumi 34 160 50 2:39:49 2018 2:39:49 311 MIZUSEDA,Yuki 30 151 41 2:40:47 2019 2:40:47 312 HIROSE,Mitsuko WINGS 45 158 49 2:41:51 2017 2:30:27 313 TANAKA,Momoko 33 155 42 2:42:09 2018 2:42:09 314 FUJISAWA,Mai 45 160 46 2:42:36 2019 2:42:36 315 MORIKAWA,Chiaki TOKYO BAY RC 32 162 50 2:42:42 2019 2:42:42 316 OTARU,Mizuha 23 157 43 2:42:53 2019 2:40:41 317 MATSUMOTO,Kyoko 49 158 43 2:43:21 2017 2:43:21 318 NORIMATSU, Yuri MM 32 157 38 2:43:41 2019 2:43:41 319 NAKAJIMA,Tomomi GRlab 30 154 42 2:44:13 2019 2:44:13 320 KOYANAGI,Yuka 46 154 42 2:44:28 2017 2:44:28 321 YASUKAWA,Sayaka Awake 37 157 46 2:44:40 2018 2:44:40 322 MASUDA,Kana stylish 31 164 50 2:44:52 2019 2:44:52 323 KANO,Yuri 41 152 42 2:45:09 2017 2:24:27 324 TAKANO,Miyuki 25 148 51 2:46:05 2019 2:46:05 325 OGO,Ai 46 173 49 2:46:16 2019 2:46:16 326 SUZUKI,Eri 35 161 44 2:46:16 2017 2:46:16 327 MABUCHI,Yuko 37 152 46 2:46:42 2017 2:46:42 328 KOSUGI,Youko 40 157 45 2:46:58 2019 2:46:58 329 SUGO,Akiko 25 163 52 2:46:58 2019 2:46:15