Skip to main content

Daniel Njenga Returns to Hokkaido Marathon (updated)

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20100806-OHT1T00315.htm
http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/sports/245211.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Aug. 6 the organizing committee of the 2010 Hokkaido Marathon, scheduled for Aug. 29 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, released the names of this year's invited athletes. Defending men's champion Daniel Njenga (Team Yakult) returns to face 2008 winner Masaru Takamizawa (Saku Chosei H.S. AC). The pair will be challenged by this year's Sapporo International Half Marathon winner Silas Njui (Team Hitachi Cable) in his marathon debut, and former Hakone Ekiden star Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem) who dropped out of his marathon debut at last December's Fukuoka International Marathon.

The women's race features 2008 winner Yukari Sahaku (Team Universal Ent.) along with teammates Mizuho Nasukawa, the 2009 Tokyo Marathon winner, and Yumiko Hara, the 2007 Osaka International Women's Marathon winner. The Hokkaido Marathon is the first women's domestic qualifying race for next summer's World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. Any Japanese woman winning the race will earn consideration for one of the five places on the national team.

8861 runners, 7459 men and 1402 women, are entered for this year's race, beating last year's record entries by over 500. The race will follow the new course introduced last year and will begin at 12:10 p.m on the east side of Nakajima Park. The Hokkaido Marathon will be broadcast live nationwide including live English-language commentary via Twitter on JRNLive. Check back for further details.

2010 Hokkaido Marathon Elite Field
click here for more detailed profiles
Men
Daniel Njenga (Kenya/Team Yakult) - 2:06:16 (Chicago '02)
Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:47 (Tokyo '08)
Masaru Takamizawa (Saku Chosei H.S. AC) - 2:12:10 (Hokkaido '08)
Masaki Shimoju (Team Konica Minolta) - 2:12:18 (Nobeoka '10)
Takaaki Koda (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:13:04 (Tokyo '10)
Chiharu Takada (Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:14:34 (Hokkaido '09)
Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) - 59:48 (Marugame Half '07)
Silas Njui (Kenya/Team Hitachi Cable) - 1:01:03 (Sapporo Half '09)
Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) - 1:01:19 (Sapporo Half '08)

Women
Yumiko Hara (Team Universal Ent.) - 2:23:48 (Osaka '07)
Mizuho Nasukawa (Team Universal Ent.) - 2:25:38 (Tokyo '09)
Yukari Sahaku (Team Universal Ent.) - 2:28:55 (Tokyo '09)
Chihiro Tanaka (AthleC RC) - 2:29:30 (Nagoya '02)
Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 2:32:20 (Yokohama '09)
Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 2:33:36 (Nagoya '10)
Satoko Uetani (Kobe Gakuin Univ. AC) - 2:33:55 (Hokkaido '09)
Nami Tani (Team Universal Ent.) - 2:33:59 (Hokkaido '09)
Misuzu Okamoto (Team Hokkoku Bank) - 2:34:12 (Hokkaido '09)
Chinami Fukaminato (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:34:16 (Hokkaido '09)
Sumiko Suzuki (Team Hokuren) - 2:35:51 (Nagoya '09)

Comments

Brett Larner said…
I hear you. Paging Dennis/Kevin...There is a spider that shows up in our apartment from time to time that we named Dennis in honor of Hara's biggest fan.

Anyway, as far as I know this will be Hara's debut with her new team/coach. Very curious to see how she goes. I have to admit, though, that I'm a little disappointed Mogusu is running Hokkaido rather than going overseas somewhere this fall. One more step down Mokamba road?

Most-Read This Week

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Suzuki and Hironaka Win 10000 m National Titles - Kanakuri Memorial Meet Highlights

Former Komazawa University captain Mebuki Suzuki (Toyota) and 3-time 10000 m national champion Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) ran through rain that started just before the day's last two events to win the 10000 m national titles Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanakuri Memorial meet. With Kenyan pacers and Wavelight in action both races were steady time trials that ground the fields down to a few legit contenders. In the men's race that was Suzuki, 2024 national champ Jun Kasai (Asahi Kasei) and Suzuki's teammate Yamato Yoshii . Yoshii made an early move to break away, but Suzuki and Kasai reeled him back in by 7200. At 9000 m the pace had slowed to 24:56, on track for 27:42, but Suzuki attacked with a 61-second lap from 9000 to 9400, a pace he held to drop a 2:32 last 1000 m for the win in 27:28.82. Kasai was next in 27:33.52 and Yoshii 3rd in a 27:36.33 PB with the top 8 all breaking 28 minutes. The women's race was down to just 2021, 2022 and 2023 national champion Hir...