Akaba Sets Course Record at Sanyo Women's Half Marathon, Noguchi 5th

by Brett Larner

Daegu World Championships marathon 5th-place finisher Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) ran an aggressive race Dec. 23 at the 30th Sanyo Women's Road Race half marathon, winning in a 1:09:16 record for the hilly course over a tough field including marathon national record holder Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex).

Akaba, Noguchi, 2010's top female Japanese half marathoner Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera), last year's Sanyo 10 km division winner Kenyan Sally Chepyego (Team Kyudenko), and Akaba's Daegu teammate Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) took the race out at course record pace. The pack ran the early stages fast enough that Noguchi, running as a test for her comeback at next month's Osaka International Women's Marathon, lost touch after only 7 km. The lead four hit 10 km in 32:45, on track for a 1:09:06 finish, before Akaba surged away to mid-68 pace and built a lead that was never cracked. Fading in the last 5 km, she nevertheless held on to take the course record by 4 seconds. "I ran this for practice, so I'm pretty happy to get the record," she said afterward.

The remaining three in the chase pack took turns trying to run Akaba down, and all three were rewarded with new PBs for their efforts. Miyauchi, last year's runner-up, eventually shook Chepyego and Ito off, nearly catching Akaba and missing the old course record by only 3 seconds as she took 2nd again in 1:09:23. Chepyego also cracked 70 minutes, with Ito just missing by 3 seconds. Noguchi did not appear to be in distress or pain after losing touch with the leaders, running steadily on to finish in 1:10:48 in her first half marathon since the spring of 2008. What that bodes for her Osaka match race against half marathon national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) for an Olympic team spot remains to be seen, but Noguchi's result was good enough to show that her comeback is continuing to move forward.

In the Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km, Kenyans Ann Karindi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) and Grace Kimanzi (Team Starts) went 1-2 against Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) and Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.), with Karindi pulling away for the win in 32:47. Karindi's former teammate and pre-race favorite Hitomi Niiya (Sakura AC) was a late scratch.

2011 Sanyo Women's Road Race
Okayama, 12/23/11
click here for complete results

Yuko Arimori Cup Half Marathon
1. Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) - 1:09:16 - CR
2. Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 1:09:23 - PB
3. Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 1:09:58 - PB
4. Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:10:03 - PB
5. Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) - 1:10:48
6. Yuko Watanabe (Team Edion) - 1:11:40
7. Naoko Sakamoto (Team Tenmaya) - 1:12:01
8. Noriko Higuchi (Team Wacoal) - 1:12:19
9. Misato Horie (Team Noritz) - 1:12:34
10. Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) - 1:12:51

Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km
1. Ann Karindi (Kenya/Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 32:47
2. Grace Kimanzi (Kenya/Team Starts) - 32:56
3. Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) - 33:04
4. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 33:06
5. Yuka Hakoyama (Team Wacoal) - 33:21
6. Rina Yonetsu (Meijo Univ.) - 33:22
7. Machiko Iwakawa (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 33:27
8. Haruka Igarashi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 33:28
9. Yoko Aizu (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 33:30
10. Erika Ikeda (Meijo Univ.) - 33:36

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

japan running news

Search This Blog