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

Goshima and Kasai Win 10000 m National Titles, Maeda Breaks U20 Asian Record

Rino Goshima and Jun Kasai stepped up with PBs to win the 2024 National Championships 10000 m titles Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. In the women's race, Goshima, 4th in last December's 2023 National Championships 10000 m, went out front from the start with Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich pacing and 2023 3rd-placer Haruka Kokai in tow. Things were never on track to hit the 30:40.00 Paris Olympics standard, but except for a brief dip to 3:08 at 7000 m Goshima held steady at 3:05 to 3:06/km even as Kokai and Jepngetich fell off. With blood dripping from her left knee after getting spiked by Jepngetich, Goshima closed in 3:03 to take 5 seconds off her best from December's Nationals and win in 30:53.31, moving up to all-time Japanese #6. Jepngetich also PBd at 31:09.42 without counting in the standings, with Kokai 2nd in 31:10.53 and Kazuna Kanetomo 3rd in a PB 31:59.29. The runner-up last time, Yuka Takashima was last in 33:33.27. The men's race went out in a

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

Golden Games in Nobeoka Top Results

  For everyone not running yesterday's 10000 m National Championships , where the Asahi Kasei corporate team dominated the men's race with four out of four men sub-28 including winner Jun Kasai , 27:17.46, the grand dame of Japan's long distance time trial circuit was happening on AK's home ground in Miyazaki at the Golden Games in Nobeoka . Not including kids' races, a total of 74 women and 227 men ran in 14 heats of 5000 m, with a packed-in crowd of fans lining the track beating on metal sponsor boards with batons. It's a pretty awesome meet, and memorable performances included: National champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. standout Caroline Kariba continued to kill it in the second month of her corporate league career, winning the 5000 m A-heat in 15:00.95 in a race where 3 out of the top 4 including her ran PBs. National champion Meijo University seemed flat at this point in the season, with none of its people under 16 minutes and star Nanase Tanimoto leading