Skip to main content

Nakamori Looks For Second Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Win

by Brett Larner

2007 winner Kazuya Nakamori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) returns to defend his title as the favorite in the 2008 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon field. Hofu is part of Japan's elite men's marathon circuit. A 2nd-tier competition following shortly after the 1st-tier Fukuoka International Marathon, Hofu is a development race for young marathoners but has nevertheless attracted the likes of Ethiopian greats Turbo Tumo and Hailu Neggusie, the latter of whom set the course record of 2:08:16 in a battle against future World Championships and Olympic marathon team member Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) in 2002.

Nakamori, who races sockless, won last year's Hofu in 2:15:40 after overtaking and then dropping Mitsuru Irifune (Team Kanebo) in the final kilometers despite severe blistering on his feet. His strongest competition includes Batochir Serod (Mongolia), who set his PB of 2:14:15 earlier this year in Beijing, along with Japanese runners Manabu Nishida (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) and Tomohiro Minami (Team Aisan).

Nakamori's biggest challenger may turn out to be Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku), a two-time anchor for dominant Hakone Ekiden force Komazawa University. Kasuya is running Hofu as his marathon debut, but earlier in the year he ran 1:30:40 to take 4th in the Kumanichi 30 km Road Race, just 7 seconds behind the winner. He clearly has the potential for an excellent showing.

The 2008 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon will be held on Dec. 21 at 12:02 p.m. TV broadcast is limited to the Yamaguchi local area but the race website will post live 5 km splits here. A complete listing of past winners and the top 20 times run in Hofu is available here. 2008 Osaka International Women's Marathon winner Mara Yamauchi (U.K.) will appear in the women's 10 km race as a guest runner.

2008 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite Field and PB Details
click here for athlete photos and bios

Jae-Young Hyung (South Korea) - 2:10:37 (Hofu 1999)
Kazuya Nakamori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:12:08 (Nobeoka 2006)
Ryo Murasato (Team Honda Kumamoto) - 2:13:15 (Beppu-Oita 2001)
Wan-Sun Chi (China) - 2:13:39 (Seoul 2004)
Kentaro Ito (Team Kyowa Hakko Bio) - 2:13:44 (Hofu 2001)
Akinori Shibutani (Team Yanagawa Seiki) - 2:13:51 (Beppu-Oita 2000)
Batochir Serod (Mongolia) - 2:14:15 (Beijing 2008)
Manabu Nishida (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:15:22 (Biwako 2006)
Tomohiro Minami (Team Aisan) - 2:15:55 (Nobeoka 2007)
Yongjian Ou (China) - 2:16:47 (Beijing 2007)
Myon-Guk An (South Korea) - 2:17:15 (Seoul 2001)
Kachi-Tsu Chao (Taiwan) - 2:17:19 (Taipei 2006)
Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku) - debut

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Day 1 Highlights

There weren't any new meet records on the opening day of this year's National University Track and Field Championships in Yokohama, but some of the favorites still turned in good performances. Ranked #1 in the women's 1500 m, Airi Tajima (Juntendo Univ.) outran #3-ranked teammate Miori Kida for the win 4:14.81 to 4:17.57, with #4-ranked Mana Aiba (Daito Bunka Univ.) 3rd in 4:18.08 Juntendo took the top 2 spots in the men's 1500 m too, with #3-ranked Shuntaro Kawaguchi bettering #1-ranked teammate Takumi Nakagawa for the title 3:45.15 to 3:45.86. #5-ranked Soya Mizuno (Ritsumeikan Univ.) got past #2-ranked Koki Terada (Chuo Univ.) for 3rd in 3:46.00. The race walks saw upset wins. Ibuki Hori (Kansai Univ.) beat #2-ranked Toko Nakajima (Waseda Univ.) by 0.47 for the women's title in 21:44.38. After opening a lead late in the race Yushi Nakajima (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) got passed by Riku Kaneko (Kokushikan Univ.) in the last 200 m and finished 2nd in the ...
1 comment
Read more

National University Championships Day 2 Highlights

Heavy rain through a lot of the day made for tough conditions for the 2nd day of the 95th National University Track and Field Championships in Yokohama, with more forecast for the final day on Monday. In a lot of the sprint and field events that held back the quality of the performances, but even so in 2 events athletes turned in meet record-breaking runs. In the men's 400 m, #3-ranked Kira Hirakawa (Toyo Univ.) and collegiate record holder Shinya Hayashi (Tsukuba Univ.) pushed each other the entire way, Hirakawa dipping for the win in 45.37 and Hayashi 2nd in 45.41. Both were way under the meet record of 45.75 set by Yuki Yamaguchi back in 2004 and tied by Julian Walsh in 2018. The other meet record came in the women's 4x100 m relay final, where MR holders Fukuoka University ran an almost identical lineup to the one that set the collegiate record of 43.91 and the MR of 44.31 last year. Rin Shibato , Mayuko Maeda and Aiha Yamagata returned from that team on the first 2 ...
1 comment
Read more

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more