Skip to main content

Yamauchi and Mogusu Return to Marugame Int'l Half Marathon

by Brett Larner

With three weeks to go until the 2010 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon race officials announced the complete elite men's and women's fields on Jan. 18. Last year's Japan-based winners Mara Yamauchi (U.K.) and Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya) are scheduled to return to defend their titles. Yamauchi has been out of competition since an injury kept her away from August's Berlin World Championships and is making a welcome return to the scene. The popular Mogusu is likewise making a miniature comeback after his abortive marathon debut last month in Fukuoka.

The elite women's field includes 24 invited athletes along with 25 general division elites. 2004 Tokyo International Women's Marathon winner Bruna Genovese (Italy) and 2009 Great Australian Run winner Nicole Chapple (Australia) are Yamauchi's main overseas competition, while the Japanese runners are led by the Ominami twins Hiromi and Takami (Team Toyota Shatai) and 2008 Shanghai Half Marathon winner Megumi Seike (Team Sysmex). Alongside the Ominamis, two other sets of twins will be in the women's field, Team Kyocera's Hiroko and Yoko Miyauchi, and Kyoko and Yoko Aizu of Team Shikoku Denryoku.

30 invited men and 83 general division elites will be trying to take away Mogusu's title. Japan-based Kenyans Daniel Gitau (Nihon Univ.) and Joseph Mwaniki (Team Konica Minolta) are Mogusu's toughest competition, but with PBs nearly two minutes slower than Mogusu's 59:48 best it will take an off day for them to be close to the talented Mogusu. 2007 Biwako Mainichi Marathon winner Samson Ramadhani (Tanzania) and 2009 World Half Marathon competitor Andrew Lemoncello (U.K.) make up the two-man overseas invited elite field. 2009 World Championships marathon team alternate Kensuke Takahashi (Team Toyota) holds the best PB among the Japanese runners, 1:01:54, and is running Marugame as a tuneup for the Feb. 28 Tokyo Marathon. Two-time World Championships marathoner Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo) is also in the field, and listed among the general division elites is 2009 double 1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B), who will be making his half marathon debut should he actually start the race.

2010 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon Selected Elite Field
click here for a complete elite field listing
Women
Mara Yamauchi (U.K.) - 1:08:29 (Marugame '09)
Hiromi Ominami (Team Toyota Shatai) - 1:08:45 (Sapporo '04)
Ikumi Wakamatsu (Team Denso) - 1:09:28 (Marugame '01)
Yuko Manabe (Second Wind AC) - 1:09:36 (Marugame '02)
Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 1:09:54 (Miyazaki '08)
Akane Wakita (Team Toyota Jidoshoki) - 1:09:57 (Kobe '08)
Nicole Chapple (Australia) - 1:10:03 (Great Australian Run '09)
Eun-Jung Lee (Korea) - 1:11:15 (Berlin '05)
Bruna Genovese (Italy) - 1:11:22 (Cremona '05)
Yuka Kakimi (Team Daiichi Seimei) - debut - 15:25.95 (5000 m, Oita '06)

Men
Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) - 59:48 (Marugame '07)
Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo) - 1:01:36 (Jitsugyodan '00)
Joseph Mwaniki (Kenya/Team Konica Minolta) - 1:01:39 (Marugame '08)
Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Nihon Univ.) - 1:01:43 (Marugame '09)
Kensuke Takahashi (Team Toyota) - 1:01:54 (Nagoya '05)
Samson Ramadhani (Tanzania) - 1:02:07 (Moshi '03)
Kenichiro Setoguchi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 1:02:13 (Marugame '04)
Makoto Tobimatsu (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 1:02:26 (Marugame '09)
Cosmas Ondiba (Kenya/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:29 (Kanto Univ. '09)
Andrew Lemoncello (U.K.) - 1:03:03 (Birmingham '09)
Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B) - debut - 13:21.49 (5000 m, Heusden-Zolder '07)

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Two-Time Olympic Marathon Medalist Erick Wainaina Referred to Prosectors on Suspicion of Assault

  According to investigators, two-time Olympic marathon medalist Erick Wainaina has had his case referred to prosecutors after allegedly injuring a railway employee by striking him in the face at a station in Setagaya, Tokyo. Wainaina, 50, was the bronze medalist in the marathon at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and won silver in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Wainaina is suspected of assaulting a woman in her late teens and a male Tokyo Denentoshi Line employee by hitting them in the face during an altercation at Komazawa University Station in March this year, resulting in minor injuries to the man's face. According to investigators, the incident began on the train between Wainaina and the woman, and after getting off at Komazawa University Station he hit her in the face when she asked him to go to the station office with her to report it. When the male railway employee responded to the situation Wainaina reportedly hit him too. In response to questioning Wainaina is said to have answered,

Wanjiru Breaks Own MR, Fuwa and Ishida Return - Kanto Regionals Day 1 Highlights

Japan's best college meet kicked off Thursday at Tokyo's National Stadium at the 103rd Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships . Looking like she was doing a controlled tempo run, 2nd-yr Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) lapped the entire field to win the women's 10000 m in a meet record 32:02.87, almost 15 seconds under the record she last year in her debut. 3rd-yr Aoi Takahashi (Josai Univ.) was 2nd in 33:29.22 and 2nd-yr Nana Nagashima (Josai Kokusai Univ.) 3rd in a PB 33:30.28, but the other main news alongside Wanjiru's new record was the return of collegiate 10000 m record holder Seira Fuwa (Takushoku Univ.) in her first 10000 m in 19 months. Fuwa hung at the back of the chase pack for the first half, made a move to lead it in the second half, and ultimately faded to 9th in 33:40.20. Every comeback has to start somewhere. The D1 men's 10000 m had a tight group up front with the top 6 all finishing within 6 seconds and under 28:10. 3rd-yr Jam

Police Arrest 20-Year-Old Man Charged With Assaulting Female Runner at Popular Tokyo Running Spot

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a female runner along the banks of the Tama River in Ota Ward, Tokyo. "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go for a walk and move my body a bit," the man told police. Local resident Hirai Muroyama , 20, of no known occupation, was arrested on charges of sexual assault. He is accused of acts including grabbing the breasts of a woman in her 20s at around 10 p.m. on May 31 along the banks of the Tama River. According to police, the woman was taking a break in her run when Muroyama approached her silently from behind and grabbed her breasts before running away. Under police interrogation Muroyama told investigators, "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go out for a walk and move my body. I'd had a few drinks and was feeling pretty hype. She was totally my type." source article: https://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newsey