Japanese half-marathon sees a jaw-dropping 360-plus runners break 1:10

A half-marathon in Japan saw an astonishing number of runners break the 1:10 barrier with 197 also breaking the 66-minute mark. More than 360 athletes are believed to have run under 1:10 at the Ageo City Half-Marathon on Sunday, according to results posted by Japan Running News, making it one of the world’s deepest races.

By comparison, Canadians have put up 42 marks below 1:10 in 2016 though some runners have multiple performances. Rob Watson, one of five Canadians to have broken 66 minutes, is the fastest in the half-marathon in 2016 having run 1:03:58 in Houston. Those numbers are per Marathon Canada rankings. Not all runners who ran fast in Ageo, located in eastern Japan, are Japanese.

上尾ハーフ ゴール手前

熊代拓也選手(山梨学院大学)

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— yuuna (@0830Ht) November 20, 2016

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上尾ハーフ

上田健太選手(山梨学院大学)

武田凛太郎選手選手(早稲田大学) pic.twitter.com/dVcS6x3pIl

— yuuna (@0830Ht) November 20, 2016

Rintaro Takeda was the men’s winner running 1:01:59 on Sunday. Japan is popularly known as one of the world’s largest running markets with a very deep population of fast runners. One of the country’s popular events are ekidens, a term for road relay races.

More Ageo City Half-Marathon race numbers

Ageo Half numbers:
1st 61:59
10th 62:28
25th 63:10
50th 63:47
100th 64:42
200th 66:11
9 of top 10 were univ men.https://t.co/JufLVHUL2T

— Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) November 20, 2016

At Sunday’s race, the top two collegiate finishers earned a trip to the NYC Half courtesy of the New York Road Runners. Japan Running News reports that the 361st finisher ran 1:09:57.

RELATED: VIDEO: Olympic champion Mo Farah races on Japanese television show.

Canadians who follow long-distance running will have their attention focused in on Japan next month as Reid Coolsaet will be running the Fukuoka Marathon. The national marathon record of 2:10:09 was set in Fukuoka by Jerome Drayton in 1975 and is one of the few longstanding records of more than two decades remaining in Canadian athletics. He has held the record since 1969.

RELATED: Two-time Olympian Reid Coolsaet to run the 2016 Fukuoka Marathon.

The women’s race is believed to have had a less deep field compared to the men’s race. The women’s winner, Asumi Kato, 18, ran the half-marathon in 1:16:55.

18-yr-old Asumi Kato/Keio Univ wins Ageo Half women’s race in 1:16:55. 上尾シティマラソン女子優勝の加藤選手。1:16:55。 pic.twitter.com/C2gfMvOhDi

— Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) November 20, 2016

Finish line video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L65fgAqnzLY

As can be seen in the above video, the amount of runners who cross the line minutes back of the winner is a constant stream. The field is deepest around the 65-minute mark of the race, approximately three minutes behind the winner. You can see the full results here.