Skip to main content

Wanjiru Withdraws From Sapporo Half Marathon

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/090701/oth0907012032021-n1.htm

translated by Brett Larner

Beijing Olympics men's marathon gold medalist and half marathon world record holder Samuel Wanjiru (Team Savas) of Kenya has withdrawn from the July 5 Sapporo International Half Marathon, the race's office announced on July 1. Wanjiru, who won April's London Marathon, was to be Sapporo's feature invited athlete but recently told race officials that he is dealing with the affects of accumulated fatigue and cannot race.

Comments

Brett Larner said…
I knew the Wanjiru-Mogusu matchup was too good to be true....
Simon Phillips said…
Disappointing news. Brett, any predictions for the match-up between Mogusu and Sato? What are Fujiwara's chances in this race?

Very much looking forward to the women's race as well.
Brett Larner said…
Well, ordinarily I would say Sato has no chance against Mogusu. He's the Japanese record holder but his best time is still 45 sec or so slower than Mogusu's. This time, though, Mogusu is coming off the car accident in Feb., so it's unclear what kind of shape he's going to be in. Mogusu may be vulnerable but Sato is in marathon training mode and from what he's said in interviews he's focusing on the WC, not the tuneup races he's doing. I guess I don't really see him challenging for the win unless Mogusu is way off.

Fujiwara doesn't have the kind of half time you'd expect from his full marathon, so he would need to have a great day to be up front. I think Yu Mitsuya could be more of a factor if he's uninjured. One thing about Sapporo, though, is that the names which have been announced are only the invited elites. There will be scores of other jitsugyodan runners there, probably including some of the Africans, so some of them might be up there as well.

Agreed that the women's race should be good. Is Shibui back in one piece? We'll see. Curious also to see what Natsuko Goto can do against all the pros.
Brett Larner said…
I forgot to mention Daniel Gitau. So far he's never really been close to Mogusu over this kind of distance, but will all the middle distance track races he did this spring and the quadruple win (800m, 1500m, 5000m and 10000m) at the Kanto Championships in May he's faster than ever and could be the man.

Most-Read This Week

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

Mashiko Breaks U20 5000 m NR - Weekend Track Roundup

Saturday's Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto was the weekend's main event in Japanese track, but there were good results at the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama too. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) led the men's 5000 m A-heat at Kanakuri in 13:14.06, with Tomonori Yamaguchi (SGH) clocking the fastest Japanese time in 13:16.38 in his first race as a corporate leaguer. Waseda University duo Rui Suzuki and Yota Mashiko went 6-7 in 13:20.64 and 13:22.87, the 18-year-old Mashiko shaving 0.04 off the U20 NR. In 8th, Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) ran a PB of 13:23.92. 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) continued to struggle after a weak indoor season, finishing 18th of 20 finishers in 13:45.10. 19-year-old Festus Kimorwo (Kurosaki Harima) was under 13:20 in the B-heat too, winning in a 13:19.59 PB. 2 more collegiate men broke 13:30, Daichi Fujita (Chuo Univ.) 8th in 13:28.93 and Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) 9th in 13:29.09. The top 6 in the men's 800 m A-hea...