Kayoko Fukushi Wins Shibetsu Half Marathon (updated)

by Brett Larner

for photos click here or here

Half marathon national record holder and 2010 double 5000 and 10000 m national champion Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) quietly returned to the half marathon distance without fanfare after a three and a half year absence with a win at the 24th Shibetsu Half Marathon on July 25 in Shibetsu, Hokkaido. Fukushi ran the race together in a pack of three with defending champion and 2010 World Half Marathon team member Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) and marathoner Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren). Akaba fell behind after 15 km while Miyauchi managed to hang on until the final 2 km when Fukushi pulled away to the win in 1:12:25, her slowest time ever over the distance and no doubt a minimum-effort victory. Miyauchi, who was 4th behind Fukushi and Akaba in the Nationals 10000 m last month, was 2nd. Akaba, 3rd at Nationals, was again 3rd. Both women joined Fukushi in going under 1:13 on the hot and sunny race day which saw temperatures of 25 degrees at the start climb to 28 degrees.

Nationals 10000 m runner-up Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu) took the women's 10000 m in 33:40. Hirokatsu Kurosaki (Team Konica Minolta), an alumnus of two-time Hakone Ekiden champion Toyo University, won the men's half marathon in 1:04:58, his first Shibestu win.

Having taken part in Rikuren's spring marathon training camp in New Zealand and having skipped the summer track season following her pair of national titles in early June, Fukushi's result suggests a serious marathon effort may be in the works for the upcoming winter season following her appearance on the track at November's Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

2010 Shibetsu Half Marathon - Top Results
Women's Half Marathon
1. Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) - 1:12:25
2. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 1:12:29
3. Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) - 1:12:57
4. Tomo Morimoto (Team Tenmaya) - 1:14:57
5. Sayuri Baba - 1:15:38

Men's Half Marathon
1. Hirokatsu Kurosaki (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:04:58
2. Tetsuo Nishimura - 1:05:16
3. Sota Hoshi - 1:05:54

Women's 10 km
1. Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu) - 33:40
2. Remi Nakazato - 33:43
3. Mai Ito - 33:44
4. Ai Igarashi - 33:51
5. Seika Iwamura - 33:55

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Ichiyama 8th at Copenhagen Marathon

Currently the #10-ranked Japanese man in the marathon with the fastest-ever domestic time at the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) made his international debut at Sunday's Copenhagen Marathon , literally an international debut as it was his first time outside the country. Ichiyama hoped to be in contention to break the 2:08:23 CR and go for the win, and with cool and breezy conditions ran easy in the lead group through 30 km. But something ate away at almost everyone as time went by, several people in the lead men's and women's groups saying humidity, and past 30 km Ichiyama fell off. Falling as low as 9th, he rallied after 40 km to finish 8th in 2:13:07. "It was different than in Japanese races," he said. "I'm used to bigger packs and more even pacing, but this was a kind of racing I hadn't done before. There's a lot to think about. I didn't feel like I was sweating a lot, but I got really thirsty and started sk

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

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,

japan running news

Search This Blog