Legendary age group runner Mariko Yugeta stormed to the top of the women’s 65-69 AbbottWM Marathon Tours & Travel Age Group World Rankings in March with a 3:09:16 finish at the Nagoya Women’s Marathon.
The 65-year-old placed 140th overall to move into top spot in her global age group battle and continue to bolster her reputation as one of the fastest women in the world over the age of 60.
In 2021 she shattered the 60+ world record with 2:52:13 in Osaka, and now that she has transitioned into the next age band, she is continuing to post formidable times.
She has finished inside the top ten of her rankings tables for the past three years and in 2024 she ran no fewer than five marathons, including a 3:01:09 finish in Tokyo.
So far in 2025, she has also run in Osaka and recorded her quickest time of 3:01:06 at the Himeji Castle Marathon, indicating that a sub-two-hour effort remains a realistic possibility for her this year.
In the same age group on the men’s side, the United Kingdom’s Paul Mingay surged into first place with a British V65 record of 2:47:52. Mingay enjoyed great success at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sweden last summer with half marathon gold, a silver in the 10km road race and 5000m bronze.
With a jam-packed marathon calendar in April, there will be a phalanx of talented age groupers jostling to earn qualifying times for the 2026 championship race, the venue for which will be announced in the coming weeks.
View the full list of qualifying races here.
Who’s on top? Check out the current rankings here.
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Episode 81: AWMM AMA - Your Questions Answered
