Hokkaido Marathon

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

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

Key:   Course record

EditionYearMen's WinnerTime
(h:m:s)
Women's WinnerTime
(h:m:s)
1st6 September 1987  Fedor Ryzhov (URS)2:24:28  Lutsia Belyayeva (URS)2:42:17
2nd4 September 1988  Masayuki Nishi (JPN)2:17:11  Jane Welzel (USA)2:40:53
3rd27 August 1989  Hiromi Taniguchi (JPN)2:13:16  Lorraine Moller (NZL)2:36:39
4th26 August 1990  Futoshi Shinohara (JPN)2:15:32  Lisa Rainsberger (USA)2:31:29
5th4 August 1991  Koichi Fujita (JPN)2:17:05  Lorraine Moller (NZL)2:33:20
6th30 August 1992  Michael Scout (RSA)2:16:38  Olga Appell (MEX)2:30:22
7th29 August 1993  Tadesse Gebre (ETH)2:15:34  Nobuko Fujimura (JPN)2:33:10
8th28 August 1994  Erick Wainaina (KEN)2:15:03  Olga Appell (USA)2:36:31
9th27 August 1995  Tadesse Gebre (ETH)2:15:07  Yuko Arimori (JPN)2:29:17
10th25 August 1996  Biruk Bekele (ETH)2:14:26  Tomoe Abe (JPN)2:31:21
11th31 August 1997  Erick Wainaina (KEN)2:13:45  Chihiro Ogura (JPN)2:33:30
12th30 August 1998  Ambesse Tolosa (ETH)2:10:13  Eri Yamaguchi (JPN)2:27:36
13th29 August 1999  Masahiro Matsumoto (JPN)2:12:08  Kazumi Matsuo (JPN)2:32:14
14th27 August 2000  Dionicio Cerón (MEX)2:17:14  Mayumi Ichikawa (JPN)2:32:30
15th26 August 2001  Tsutomu Sassa (JPN)2:13:45  Masako Chiba (JPN)2:30:39
16th25 August 2002  Samson Kandie (KEN)2:15:12  Chika Horie (JPN)2:26:11
17th31 August 2003  Erick Wainaina (KEN)2:13:13  Chihiro Tanaka (JPN)2:34:11
18th29 August 2004  Laban Kagika (KEN)2:12:20  Masako Chiba (JPN)2:26:50
19th28 August 2005  Tomonori Watanabe (JPN)2:14:49  Masako Chiba (JPN)2:25:46
20th27 August 2006  Tomonori Watanabe (JPN)2:17:51  Kaori Yoshida (JPN)2:32:53
21st9 September 2007  Julius Gitahi (KEN)2:17:26  Yuri Kanō (JPN)2:30:43
22nd31 August 2008  Masaru Takamizawa (JPN)2:12:10  Yukari Sahaku (JPN)2:31:50
23rd30 August 2009  Daniel Njenga (KEN)2:12:03  Kiyoko Shimahara (JPN)2:25:10
24th29 August 2010  Cyrus Njui (KEN)2:11:22  Yumiko Hara (JPN)2:34:12
25th28 August 2011  Harun Mbugua (KEN)2:14:10  Tomo Morimoto (JPN)2:33:45
26th26 August 2012  Yuki Kawauchi (JPN)2:18:38  Yuri Yoshizumi (JPN)2:39:07
27th25 August 2013  Koji Gokaya (JPN)2:14:26  Yuko Watanabe (JPN)2:29:13
28th31 August 2014  Shigeki Tsuji (JPN)2:15:24  Azusa Nojiri (JPN)2:30:26
29th30 August 2015  Arata Fujiwara (JPN)2:16:49  Yui Okada (JPN)2:32:10
30th28 August 2016  Ryo Kiname (JPN)2:13:16  Kaori Yoshida (JPN)2:32:33
31st27 August 2017  Akinobu Murasawa (JPN)2:14:48  Honami Maeda (JPN)2:28:48
32nd26 August 2018  Okamoto Naomi (JPN)2:11:29  Ayuko Suzuki (JPN)2:28:32
33rd25 August 2019  Ryo Matsumoto (JPN)2:12:57  Mirai Waku (JPN)2:33:44
2020cancelled due to conflict with Olympic and Paralympic Games [7]
2021Not held
34th28 August 2022  Luka Musembi (KEN)2:10:49  Haruka Yamaguchi (JPN)2:29:52[9]
3527 August 2023  Patrick Mazenge Wambui (KEN)2:20:54  Tomomi Sawabata (JPN)2:38:18

See also

Notes

References

Winners