At the previous Hangzhou Asian Games, He Jie won China's first-ever Asian Games men's marathon gold in 2:13:02; Yang Shaohui took bronze, and Zhang Deshun won the women's silver, marking the first time Chinese marathoners had formed a group advantage at the Asian Games. But the men's meet record—2:08:21 set by Japanese runner 中山竹通 in 1986—has remained untouched for nearly forty years.

At the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games, host nation Japan is sending a strong pairing in Yuya Yoshida (PB 2:05:16) and Ichitaka Yamashita (PB 2:05:51), while China’s men are led by Peiyou Feng (PB 2:05:58) and Erenjia Jia (PB 2:08:32). There is a gap in personal bests, but their strength is by no means inferior.

On the women's side, China's two athletes were 次仁措姆 (PB 2:26:47) and 吴冰 (PB 2:26:01). Japan's two runners are around the "2:20" level; any statistical gap may need to be closed through tactics and willpower.

Temperatures in Nagoya at the end of September tend to be relatively high and humidity is significant. With no pacemakers in the race, whoever can push in-race tactics and position battles to the limit will have the better chance. Of course, beyond the China–Japan duel, individual runners from other countries should not be overlooked.

At 6:30 AM Beijing time, the men's field started first.

Feng Peiyou and Jia Erenjia, wearing the Chinese team's red jerseys, stood out at the starting line.

After the start, Feng Peiyou stayed out in front the whole time, with Japan's Kazutaka Yamashita and North Korea's Han Il-ryong close behind. The lead group formed a triangle, with Feng Peiyou breaking the wind at the front — very much like the formation used in Kipchoge's 1:59 Challenge.

5 km split 15:27, average pace about 3:05 per km. Projected finishing time around 2:10.

When the broadcast camera turned to the women's start, there were some changes on the men's side: Jia Erenjia was in the lead while Feng Peiyou ran in the middle of the main pack. Before long, Jia Erenjia yielded the lead to Shanxia Yigui. In a large marathon event like the Asian Games, the runners are often competing more on tactics than on outright pace.

10 km split 31:28; the second 5 km was noticeably slower. Everyone was conserving energy for the second half.

After the feed station just past 10 km, South Korea's 朴敏浩 was at the front. Although the temperature was around 20°C, humidity was high and runners used sponges to cool down.

15 km split 47:34; the pace remained slow, so the lead pack stayed large.

At the 16-kilometer mark, Feng Peiyou and Jia Erenjia accelerated noticeably, the lead group split into two smaller groups, and Han Rilong chose to follow their pace.

At the 18-kilometer mark, Feng Peiyou was running in front; behind him were Shanxia Yigui, Han Rilong and Kazakhstan’s Koech Shadrack. Jia Erenjia gradually began to lose the pace and dropped back into the second group.

20 km split 1:02:35; the lead group led by 丰配友 numbered six. In addition to the three already mentioned, Bahrain's Elabbassi Elhassan and India's Barwal Sawan were with them.

After the half, the Indian runner was out front; his PB is 2:11:58, set this year.

At the fifth 5 km split the lead group remained six strong, with an Indian runner leading for a long stretch. The 25 km split was 1:18:19.

Approaching 28 km, Indonesian runner Syianturi Robi strode up from behind into the lead. Such a scene is relatively rare in a marathon, which also showed the lead group's pace was not fast.

The 30 km split was 1:34:39, and the race entered its most intense 12 kilometers.

At the 31.5-kilometer mark, Ichitaka Yamashita accelerated on the climb, trying to drop the other contenders. Il-ryong Han and Peiyou Feng chose to follow.

After 1 kilometer, Han Rilong accelerated again, leaving Shanxia Yigui and the Indian competitor behind.Barwal was in second. A few hundred meters later,Barwal is in the lead, and Han Rilong has overtaken again — the fight among the top few in this stretch is extremely fierce. Feng Peiyou, meanwhile, has fallen to sixth place.

Approaching the 35-kilometer mark, Ichitaka Yamashita caught up again and moved into first place.

The 35 km split was 1:49:29,Kazutaka Yamashita finished first.Barwal finished second, Han Rilong finished third.Elabbassi finished fourth, Feng Peiyou finished fifth, and Koech, with a PB of 2:04:04, finished sixth.

Although 山下一贵 was running with a grim expression, he kept up the pace and gradually extended his lead. The 40 km split was 2:04:17, 26 seconds ahead of the Indian runner — the win was essentially secure. 丰配友 remained fifth.

In the end, 山下一贵 won the men's marathon title on home soil for Japan, finishing in 2:10:49. The runner-up was IndianBarwal.

Feng Peiyou overtook Han Rilong in the final moments to finish third.

Twenty minutes later the women's race started.

Unlike the men, Japanese athlete Sayaka Sato was in the lead from the start, with two North Korean competitors behind her.

5 km 18:18 — the lead group has been reduced to 10; Chinese runners 次仁措姆 and 吴冰 are among them, along with two Japanese, two Korean, and two Bahraini athletes.

Shortly before 7 km, 次仁措姆 surged to the front. At 8 km, 吴冰 accelerated into the lead. Is this a tactical cooperation between the two Chinese runners?

Before long, Wu Bing was back in the main group.

10 km 36:42 — the lead pack remains at 10 runners.

The women’s lead group saw no change over the third 5 km; somewhat surprisingly, 35-year-old Indonesian veteran Naibaho was leading.

Approaching 17 km,矢田美久 increased the pace, opening a gap on the others; Bahraini runner Habte elected to follow. The lead group soon caught them again, but the move trimmed the lead pack to 8.

Halfway time 1:16:39 — lead group 8 runners, representing four countries: China, Japan, Bahrain, and North Korea.

Just past 22 km, Japanese runnerYadaexperienced a fall, which disrupted her rhythm somewhat, but thankfully it wasn’t serious.

At 25 kilometers the time was 1 hour 30 minutes and 09 seconds; two Japanese runners were leading, and Chinese runners Ciren Cuomu and Wu Bing were both in the lead group.

At the time of writing the women’s race was still ongoing; final results will be published later.