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Higuchi and Kipgenon Score Victories at Shibetsu Half Marathon

http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/sports/106230.html

translated by Brett Larner

At the Rikuren-certified 22nd Shibetsu Half Marathon on July 20th, Kenyan Kibet Kipgenon (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) won the men`s race in a time of 1:04:29, while Noriko Higuchi (Team Wacoal) ran 1:13:52 to record her first win. Kipgenon broke from the pack at the 15 km point with a long spurt, while Higuchi came from the rear of the lead pack to win.

Kipgenon commented after the race, "That was close to my race plan, and I set a new PB so I am quite happy." Noguchi, training in Shibetsu at a Kansai Jitsugyodan training camp, said of her race, "I followed my coach`s plan to 'stick to the lead pack like blood.' Winning here is going to help me run better in the ekiden season this fall."

A total of 1415 men and women entered the half marathon, 10 km, 5 km and 2 km races, with 660 in the half marathon alone. 1377 finished the race, including 629 in the half marathon.
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