Skip to main content

Mathathi, Kuroda Win Gifu Half Marathon, Kawauchi 13th

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201105/CN2011051501000316.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner
complete results coming soon

At the May 15 Naoko Takahashi Cup Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) won in 1:00:47. 2011 World Championships marathon team leader and amateur runner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) ran 1:04:44 for 13th. Kawauchi ran among the leaders through 10 km but fell off pace after colliding with another athlete. "I had trouble moving my legs properly after that," he said. "Looking at my performance I'd have to say that I'm disappointed with a result like this, but it was good to get the feeling of racing again. I'd like to polish things up for the Sapporo International Half in July." Kawauchi then headed out to run hill repeats in the surrounding mountains.

Mao Kuroda (Team Yutaka Giken) won the women's half marathon in 1:13:45. Multiple Olympic and World Championships medalist Catherine Ndereba (Kenya) was 51 seconds back in 3rd.

In its first edition, this year's Gifu Half Marathon was dedicated as a charity fundraiser race for relief efforts in the disaster-hit northeast. Including the 3 km family run event, a total of 9000 people ran the race. A portion of each runner's entry fee went to disaster relief. The race also held a charity auction including goods signed by Sydney Olympics women's marathon gold medalist and former world record holder Naoko Takahashi. Giving advice to Kawauchi, who has been in the national spotlight since his remarkable run at February's Tokyo Marathon, Takahashi said, "Don't always think that you can do more than you can, and keep sight of who and what you are."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Ngetich and Mutiso Take Down Tokyo Legacy Half CR

In its 5th edition the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon scored 2 new course records via Kenyans from the Ikaika agency, with 10 km WR holder Agnes Ngetich blasting 3 minutes off the old record to win by over 4 in 1:04:23, and Alexander Mutiso skimming just 1 second under the CR for the win by 5 seconds in 59:51. The 2 races played out completely differently, even if the paydays were the same for the winners. Surrounded by an envelope of male runners all the way to the final 100 m, Ngetich was out hard on the downhill in the first 5 km, hitting it on sub-64 pace in 15:08 before leveling out on the flat middle 10 km. Her next 2 splits projected to 1:04:09 and 1:04:17, and even with the uphill back to the stadium in the last 5 km she didn't fall far off from that, winning in 1:04:23. Runner-up Tabitha Njeri Kamau was nearly a mile back in 1:08:28, with Kamau's Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo teammate Kazuna Kanetomo dropping a 1:10:17 PB for 3rd. Now an independent, track Olympian Kaede Ha...
2 comments
Read more

Kipyegon Repeats, Toyo Wins Hakone Ekiden Qualifier in First Appearance in 21 Years

Back for the first time in 21 years after a disastrous 14th-place finish at the 102nd Hakone Ekiden this past January, Toyo University hit one out of western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park with a solid win at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai, the half marathon that serves as the official qualifying race for the 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The top 10 teams in the Hakone auto-qualify for the following year, with the rest having to run the Yosenkai in October with a squad of 10 to 16 runners out of which the top 10 score on aggregate time, with the 10 fastest schools joining the Hakone field and top individuals from non-qualifying teams names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team to make up the complete Hakone field of 21. Driven in large part by an aggressive run from 3rd-year Yu Miyazaki , one of only 2 Japanese athletes to go with the big African contingent up front, Toyo won in 10:31:30, 1:03:09 or 2:59.6/km per athlete. As the first team to have broken the 3:00/km average pace barrie...
1 comment
Read more

Route Inn Hotels Win National Corporate Women's Ekiden Qualifier for First Time

After Saturday's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying race in Tokyo, 2nd-tier corporate women's teams were in Fukuoka for their own national championships qualifying race, the Princess Ekiden . With Queens Ekiden 19-placer Otsuka Seiyaku a DNS, 30 teams lined up for the 6-stage, 42.195 km race where the top 16 would go on to join the top 8 from last year's Queens Ekiden at next month's national race. Coming right in the middle of the international fall marathon season several teams had people still tired from Berlin and Chicago, with Daihatsu fielding Rika Kaseda and Natsuki Omori from Berlin, Tokyo Metro sending out its own Berlin duo of Mao Uesugi and Ayumi Morita , and Kraftia not playing its top member Yuka Akasaki after her solid run in Chicago last week. After a fast start from eventual 9th-placer Denso 's Rio Matsutani , Daihatsu took over on the Second Stage and held it until the Fifth, where a tired Omori dropped to 3rd. Mayuka Fujita from Route Inn H...
2 comments
Read more