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[ODDS and EVENS] Japanese Marathon Runners Enjoy Successful Outing in Berlin

Yohei Ikeda, Ai Hosoda and Mizuki Matsuda completed the 50th Berlin Marathon with personal-best times, earning top-10 finishes in the German capital.

Published

1 month ago

October 3, 2024

Ed Odeven

Yohei Ikeda, who finished sixth, in action during the 50th running of the Berlin Marathon on September 29, 2024. (©AP/via KYODO)

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For a trio of top Japanese runners, all of whom were top-10 finishers, the 2024 Berlin Marathon represented progress.

On Sunday, September 29, Yohei Ikeda, Ai Hosoda and Mizuki Matsuda all ran personal-best times in the 42.195-kilometer race, which had more than 58,000 participants.

Ikeda, 26, finished sixth in the men's competition with a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes, 12 seconds in the German capital. He was clocked in 2:06:53 at the Osaka Marathon in February 2023 in his debut in the long-distance race.

Hosoda and Matsuda completed the women's event in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

The 28-year-old Hosoda was an alternate for Japan's marathon squad for the Paris Olympics but did not participate as a replacement. She ran her first marathon of 2024 on Sunday and her determined effort was a key as she crossed the finish line in 2:20:31.

Hosoda's previous best was 2:21:42 at the London Marathon in October 2022.

Matsuda, 29, finished the 50th Berlin Marathon in 2:20:42. It was 10 seconds faster than her winning effort at the 2022 Osaka Ladies International Marathon.

A Notable Effort for Ikeda at the Berlin Marathon

How did Ikeda's solid effort compare with Sunday's fastest runners?

Ethiopia's Milkesa Mengesha won the race in 2:03:17. Kenya's Cybrian Kotut was the runner-up (2:03:22). Ethiopian Haymanot Alew secured a third-place finish in 2:03:31, followed by Kenyan Stephen Kiprop (2:03:37) and Ethiopia's Hailemaryam Kiros (2:04:35).

It was Ikeda's first marathon this year and he set a new benchmark for himself. The Nippon Sport Science University grad also demonstrated that his marathon debut in Osaka was not a fluke.

A sixth-place finisher at the Asian Games in October 2023 (2:15:04), Ikeda later expressed disappointment that he did not return from Hangzhou, China, with a medal, according to published reports.

As a result, he channeled his focus on training, working hard to increase his strength and stamina. This included a heavy workload of nearly 2,000 kilometers of combined running in July and August, Jiji Press reported.

That effort paid off.

Ikeda ran the second-fastest marathon ever by a Japanese runner. Kengo Suzuki holds the national record (2:04:56), set at the Lake Biwa Marathon in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, in February 2021.

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Author: Ed Odeven

Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.