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Aoyama Gakuin Runners Top Kanagawa Half Marathon

by Brett Larner

Strong winds battered the university runners at the head of the 32nd Kanagawa Half Marathon Feb. 7 in Yokohama. A lead pack of five made up of runners from Komazawa, Meiji, Aoyama Gakuin and Senshu universities stayed together through the early stages of the race, but when Aoyama Gakuin's Yasumasa Ogawa attacked the pack quickly strung out. Ogawa, who ran the downhill Sixth Stage at last month's Hakone Ekiden, took over two minutes off his PB to win in 1:04:51. His teammate Shungo Kawamura likewise knocked his PB down by more than two minutes, 4th in 1:05:05, while Aoyama Gakuin first-year Takuya Yokoyama rounded out the top 5 with yet another PB of 1:05:08. The trio's performance continued Aoyama Gakuin's momentum from making the seeded top 10 at Hakone for the first time in over 30 years. All three runners will return next year. Finishing 2nd in 1:05:00 was Meiji University first-year Katsuhiro Tanaka in his half marathon debut.

2010 Kanagawa Half Marathon - Top Finishers
1. Yasumasa Ogawa (3rd yr., Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:51 - PB
2. Katsuhiro Tanaka (1st yr., Meiji Univ.) - 1:05:00 - debut
3. Junichi Akagi (unattached) - 1:05:01
4. Shungo Kawamura (2nd yr., Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:05 - PB
5. Takuya Yokoyama (1st yr., Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:08 - PB
6. Yuki Hayase (1st yr., Komazawa Univ.) - 1:05:09 - PB
7. Naoki Matsuo (2nd yr., Senshu Univ.) - 1:05:10
8. Soichiro Nishio (3rd yr., Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:20 - PB
9. Kota Hoshino (1st yr., Senshu Univ.) - 1:05:23 - debut
10. Kazuki Nakamura (Kokugakuin Univ.) - 1:05:24

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
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