The Hokkaido Marathon held in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan, is one of the prominent marathon races of the year.

Hokkaido Marathon
Tomonori Watanabe winning the men's 2005 edition
DateAugust
LocationSapporo, Japan
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon
Established1987
Course recordsMen's: 2:10:13 (1998)
Ethiopia Ambesse Tolosa
Women's: 2:25:10 (2009)
Japan Kiyoko Shimahara
Official siteHokkaido Marathon

The staging area as well as both the start and finish lines are in Odori Park starting between Nishi 3-chome and Nishi 4-chome and the finishing at Nishi 8-chome. The course is sanctioned by both the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) and AIMS, meaning it is eligible for world record performances.[1]

History edit

The Hokkaido Marathon was first held in 1987 with 439 entrants and 380 starters.[2]

In 2009, the time limit was increased to 5 hours.[3]

For the 2012 edition of the race, the start was moved from Nakajima Park to Odori Park.[4]

In 2013, the number of finishers of the full marathon exceeded 10,000 for the first time.[4]

The 2020 edition of the race was cancelled because the marathon usually took place in August, while the marathon event of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics was scheduled to take place in Sapporo that August as well.[a][7] Logistical issues, such as a likely shortage of staff to organize the marathon due to the Paralympics taking place around the same time, and the short timeframe in which the areas used by the Olympic marathon would have to be reset for the Hokkaido Marathon, led to the decision to cancel the marathon.[b][7]

Winners edit

Key:   Course record

Edition Year Men's Winner Time
(h:m:s)
Women's Winner Time
(h:m:s)
1st 6 September 1987   Fedor Ryzhov (URS) 2:24:28   Lutsia Belyayeva (URS) 2:42:17
2nd 4 September 1988   Masayuki Nishi (JPN) 2:17:11   Jane Welzel (USA) 2:40:53
3rd 27 August 1989   Hiromi Taniguchi (JPN) 2:13:16   Lorraine Moller (NZL) 2:36:39
4th 26 August 1990   Futoshi Shinohara (JPN) 2:15:32   Lisa Rainsberger (USA) 2:31:29
5th 4 August 1991   Koichi Fujita (JPN) 2:17:05   Lorraine Moller (NZL) 2:33:20
6th 30 August 1992   Michael Scout (RSA) 2:16:38   Olga Appell (MEX) 2:30:22
7th 29 August 1993   Tadesse Gebre (ETH) 2:15:34   Nobuko Fujimura (JPN) 2:33:10
8th 28 August 1994   Erick Wainaina (KEN) 2:15:03   Olga Appell (USA) 2:36:31
9th 27 August 1995   Tadesse Gebre (ETH) 2:15:07   Yuko Arimori (JPN) 2:29:17
10th 25 August 1996   Biruk Bekele (ETH) 2:14:26   Tomoe Abe (JPN) 2:31:21
11th 31 August 1997   Erick Wainaina (KEN) 2:13:45   Chihiro Ogura (JPN) 2:33:30
12th 30 August 1998   Ambesse Tolosa (ETH) 2:10:13   Eri Yamaguchi (JPN) 2:27:36
13th 29 August 1999   Masahiro Matsumoto (JPN) 2:12:08   Kazumi Matsuo (JPN) 2:32:14
14th 27 August 2000   Dionicio Cerón (MEX) 2:17:14   Mayumi Ichikawa (JPN) 2:32:30
15th 26 August 2001   Tsutomu Sassa (JPN) 2:13:45   Masako Chiba (JPN) 2:30:39
16th 25 August 2002   Samson Kandie (KEN) 2:15:12   Chika Horie (JPN) 2:26:11
17th 31 August 2003   Erick Wainaina (KEN) 2:13:13   Chihiro Tanaka (JPN) 2:34:11
18th 29 August 2004   Laban Kagika (KEN) 2:12:20   Masako Chiba (JPN) 2:26:50
19th 28 August 2005   Tomonori Watanabe (JPN) 2:14:49   Masako Chiba (JPN) 2:25:46
20th 27 August 2006   Tomonori Watanabe (JPN) 2:17:51   Kaori Yoshida (JPN) 2:32:53
21st 9 September 2007   Julius Gitahi (KEN) 2:17:26   Yuri Kanō (JPN) 2:30:43
22nd 31 August 2008   Masaru Takamizawa (JPN) 2:12:10   Yukari Sahaku (JPN) 2:31:50
23rd 30 August 2009   Daniel Njenga (KEN) 2:12:03   Kiyoko Shimahara (JPN) 2:25:10
24th 29 August 2010   Cyrus Njui (KEN) 2:11:22   Yumiko Hara (JPN) 2:34:12
25th 28 August 2011   Harun Mbugua (KEN) 2:14:10   Tomo Morimoto (JPN) 2:33:45
26th 26 August 2012   Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) 2:18:38   Yuri Yoshizumi (JPN) 2:39:07
27th 25 August 2013   Koji Gokaya (JPN) 2:14:26   Yuko Watanabe (JPN) 2:29:13
28th 31 August 2014   Shigeki Tsuji (JPN) 2:15:24   Azusa Nojiri (JPN) 2:30:26
29th 30 August 2015   Arata Fujiwara (JPN) 2:16:49   Yui Okada (JPN) 2:32:10
30th 28 August 2016   Ryo Kiname (JPN) 2:13:16   Kaori Yoshida (JPN) 2:32:33
31st 27 August 2017   Akinobu Murasawa (JPN) 2:14:48   Honami Maeda (JPN) 2:28:48
32nd 26 August 2018   Okamoto Naomi (JPN) 2:11:29   Ayuko Suzuki (JPN) 2:28:32
33rd 25 August 2019   Ryo Matsumoto (JPN) 2:12:57   Mirai Waku (JPN) 2:33:44
2020 cancelled due to conflict with Olympic and Paralympic Games [7]
2021 Not held
34th 28 August 2022   Luka Musembi (KEN) 2:10:49   Haruka Yamaguchi (JPN) 2:29:52[9]
35 27 August 2023   Patrick Mazenge Wambui (KEN) 2:20:54   Tomomi Sawabata (JPN) 2:38:18

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ The Olympic marathon event was moved from Tokyo to Sapporo due to concerns about heat.[5] The Paralympic marathon events, however, were to remain in Tokyo.[6]
  2. ^ The Olympic and Paralympic Games were later postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.[8]

References edit

  1. ^ Overview of the 2010 Hokkaido Marathon Archived 2010-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. Hokkaido Marathon. Retrieved on 2010-08-30.
  2. ^ "大会の歴史". 【公式】北海道マラソン2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  3. ^ "大会の歴史(第21回~第25回)".
  4. ^ a b "大会の歴史(第26回~第30回)".
  5. ^ "2020 Olympic organizers unveil course for Sapporo marathons". 19 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Paralympic Marathon to remain in Tokyo".
  7. ^ a b c "北海道マラソン2020 休止のお知らせ/Notice of Cancellation of Hokkaido Marathon 2020 | 【公式】北海道マラソン2021".
  8. ^ "The 2020 Olympic Marathon in Sapporo - Japan Rail Pass".
  9. ^ Larner, B., 2022. Musembi and Yamaguchi Win Hokkaido Marathon, Five Qualify for Olympic Marathon Trials. [online] Japanrunningnews.blogspot.com. Available at: <http://japanrunningnews.blogspot.com/2022/08/musembi-and-yamaguchi-win-hokkaido.html> [Accessed 29 August 2022].
Winners

External links edit