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Furukawa Wins Katsuta Marathon by 1 Second

Japan’s other big marathon this weekend, the Katsuta Marathon saw a tough four-way race in the men’s marathon that came down to a sprint finish in the home straight. Tokyo University graduate student Hiroaki Furukawa, who last year launched action against the Hakone Ekiden organizers for not including a select team in the field for Hakone’s 100th edition, passed Sota Yamamoto in the final meters

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Former NR Holder Shitara Runs Best Half in 5 Years, Ando Repeats at Osaka Half

 In parallel with the Osaka International Women’s Marathon, Sunday’s Osaka Half Marathon had some big names come out on top in both the women’s and men’s races. Last year Yuka Ando outran Ethiopian Desta Burka by 2 seconds to set a CR of 1:08:18. Running with a personal male pacers this time Ando went out to better that, on track for 1:08:00 at 5 km and dipping into sub-68 territory over the

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Edesa Repeats, Kobayashi Breaks Through at Osaka Women’s Marathon

After breaking the CR with a 2:18:51 win at last year’s Osaka International Women’s Marathon, Ethiopian Workenesh Edesa was back as one of exactly 2 non-Japanese women in the elite field at this year’s race. Set up to try to get at least Paris Olympics 6th-placer Yuka Suzuki under the 2:20 barrier, Osaka went out slower than planned but still ground the field down, only Edesa, Suzuki, the