Skip to main content

Ugachi 1:00:58 at Marugame Int'l Half Marathon

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20110206k0000e050020000c.html
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/110206/oth11020617280011-n1.htm
http://www.47news.jp/CN/201102/CN2011020601000204.html
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/110206/oth11020617300012-n1.htm
http://www.shikoku-np.co.jp/sports/local/article.aspx?id=20110206000201

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Last year's National Corporate Half Marathon Championships winner Samuel Ndungu (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) won the 2011 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon on Feb. 6, clocking a PB of 1:00:55. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta), the 12th-placer at last year's World Half Marathon Championships, was 2nd in a PB of 1:00:58, the all-time 3rd-fastest Japanese mark. Course record holder Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) was 3rd after slowing dramatically in the final kilometer of the race. Times were fast overall as eight of the top ten recorded new PBs. Beijing Olympics marathoner Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku) was a distant 33rd.

Mogusu took the race out hard with a 2:43 first km tailed by a pack of eight. The group, alternately led by Ndungu, Ugachi, and Moroccan Rachid Kisri, led go and ran their own pace, eventually whittling down to just those three. Kisri was the first to lose touch, drifting back at 11 km. Ndungu and Ugachi then worked together to catch the flailing Mogusu, and each was rewarded with his first sub-61 clocking. Ndungu surged as he caught Mogusu, opening a slight lead which Ugachi was unable to close as the pair entered the track for the final stretch of the race. Ugachi told reporters that he plans to run the 10000 m at this summer's World Championships in Daegu, Korea. "I was 100% targeting a time today and ran just focusing on keeping a positive feeling," he said. "I have to work on my last kick a little more in order to be able to win a race like this. I'm not satisfied yet."

National record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) won the women's race in a world-leading 1:09:00, her third Marugame title and first in four years as defending champion Nikki Chapple (Australia) and 2010 world leader Elvan Abeylegesse (Turkey) were no-shows. Karolina Jarzynska (Poland) was 2nd in a PB of 1:10:36, with Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) 3rd in 1:10:50 in her half marathon debut. Five-time 1500 m national champion Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic) was 4th with a nearly two-minute PB.

Fukushi, who was trying to run a steady pace throughout the race, split 15:56 for the first 5 km before fading to 16:37 from 10-15 km. She laughed afterwards, "I was done after 3 km. Felt pretty heavy today. I don't know about these longer distances. No idea at all."

Translator's note: Ugachi's time was a PB by 51 seconds over his then-PB 1:01:49 run at the World Half last year and only 33 seconds off the Japanese national record. 55 minutes of Marugame highlights will be broadcast on Fuji TV at 1:05 a.m. tonight Japan time. Click here to watch online.

2011 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon
Men
1. Samuel Ndungu (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:00:55 - PB
2. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:00:58 - PB
3. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) - 1:01:29
4. Rachid Kisri (Morocco) - 1:01:52 - PB
5. Hiromitsu Kakuage (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:34 - PB
6. Ryotaro Nitta (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:02:35 - PB
7. Hiroki Kadota (Team Kanebo) - 1:02:35 - PB
8. Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 1:02:40 - PB
9. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama T&F Assoc.) - 1:02:40 - PB
10. Ryohei Nakano (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 1:02:49

Women
1. Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) - 1:09:00
2. Karolina Jarzynska (Poland) - 1:10:36 - PB
3. Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) - 1:10:50 - debut
4. Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic) - 1:11:13 - PB
5. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 1:11:49
6. Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) - 1:12:03
7. Megumi Seike (Team Sysmex) - 1:12:04
8. Misato Horie (Team Noritz) - 1:12:16 - PB
9. Kumi Ogura (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 1:12:21 - PB
10. Silviia Skvortsova (Russia) - 1:12:39

Comments

Old Greg said…
How did Nikki Chapple Go?
Brett Larner said…
Results aren't up yet. Check back soon.
iladbrooke@aol.com said…
Brett , did Elvan not run in ladies race ? ian
Brett Larner said…
Ian--

There was an article last night saying she was not running but no explanation was given. I haven't heard any details.
Anonymous said…
Dear Bret,

We gave a link to your site related with Marugame Half Marathon. Please click http://www.maratonturk.com

News headline is;
Elvan Abeylegesse did not run in Japan !

Regards,
Osman Atakan Tekin

Most-Read This Week

Hakone Champ AGU Hits 50 km a Day in Spring Break Training Camp

Having scored its 3rd-straight Hakone Ekiden win this past January, Aoyama Gakuin University spent the Golden Week spring holidays training on the Myoko Plateau in Niigata from May 2-6. Along with the champion men's ekiden team, the first 2 members of AGU's new women's long distance team Nodoka Ashida and Kairi Ikeno , and AGU alumni and 2026 New Year Ekiden champion GMO team members Yuya Yoshida and Asahi Kuroda also took part in the training camp. Depending on the day's training schedule, mileage at the camp was over 50 km a day. AGU men's captain Kaito Nakamura confidently said, "This Golden Week training camp is where we lay the foundations for our 4th-straight Hakone title." A lot of people spend Golden Week on vacation, but the AGU ekiden team spent their time working hard on Myoko's rolling land amid the sprouting leaves of spring. On the 2nd day of the camp, May 3, team members woke up at 5:00 a.m. to do their warmup. The team assembled a...

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...

Shikama and Njeri Win Sendai International Half Marathon

Shunsuke Shikama (Logisteed) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) won the Sendai International Half Marathon Sunday in Sendai, Shikama in 1:01:31 and Njeri in 1:09:20. Mizuki Nishimura (Tenmaya) was the top Japanese woman at 2nd overall. The men's race went through 5 km in 14:34 and 10 km in 29:22. Shikama ran alongside top competition including Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.), who has been running well in half marathons this season, and Tokyo World Championships marathon team member Naoki Koyama (Honda). On a course with many small ups and downs, Shikama attacked on a downhill just after 15 km, quickly breaking free of the lead group of 7. 13 seconds up by 20 km, Shikama covered the last 1.0975 km in 3:06 to seal his first Sendai title. A graduate of Juntendo University , Shikama is in his 4th season with Logisteed. At the 2024 National Corporate Half Marathon he ran 1:00:41, and at last year's East Japan Corporate Ekiden he won the Third Stage. In his marathon d...