Skip to main content

Batochir, Hunt, Njenga, Njoroge, Ramadhani Headline 61st Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon

http://sp.mainichi.jp/m/news.html?cid=20120118k0000m050038000c

translated by Brett Larner

On Jan. 17 the organizers of the Feb. 5 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon announced the elite field for this year's 61st running.  The six Japan-based invited athletes include last year's runner-up Daniel Njenga (Kenya/Team Yakult) and 6th-place finisher Yuki Moriwaki (Team JFE Steel), last summer's Asian Championships bronze medalist Kenji Takeuchi (Team Toyota Kyushu) and 2011 Hokkaido Marathon winner Harun Njoroge (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.).

Among the seven  overseas elites are 2010's 3rd-placer Jeff Hunt (Australia), 2007 Biwako Mainichi Marathon winner Samson Ramadhani (Tanzania) and two-time Hofu Yomiuri Marathon winner Serod Batochir (Mongolia).

The general division includes 2011 Grand Tour Kyushu ekiden MVP Takehiro Arakawa (Team Asahi Kasei) and Takaaki Tanaka of 2012 Hakone Ekiden course record setters Toyo University, both making their marathon debuts.  Comedian Hiroshi Neko is also entered as part of his quest to qualify for the London Olympics for Cambodia.  A total of 2098 athletes are entered for this year's race.

2012 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Elite Field
Oita, 2/5/12
click here for complete field listing

Men
1. Samson Ramadhani (Tanzania) - 2:08:01 (London, 2003)
2. Abdellah Falil (Morocco) - 2:08:18 (Daegu, 2011)
3. Adam Draczynski (Poland) - 2:10:49 (Vienna, 2010)
4. Jeff Hunt (Australia) - 2:11:00 (Beppu-Oita, 2010)
5. Serod Batochir (Mongolia) - 2:11:35 (London, 2011)
6. Desta Gebrehiwet (Ethiopia) - 2:11:55 (Venice, 2011)
7. Yakob Jarso (Ethiopia) - debut - 1:00:07 (New Delhi, 2010)
11. Daniel Njenga (Kenya/Team Yakult) - 2:06:16 (Chicago, 2002)
12. Harun Njoroge (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.) - 2:11:43 (Beppu-Oita, 2011)
13. Yuki Moriwaki (Team JFE Steel) - 2:12:34 (Beppu-Oita, 2011)
14. Kenji Takeuchi (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 2:12:44 (Nobeoka, 2011)
15. Keisuke Wakui (Team Yakult) - 2:13:31 (Biwako, 2011)
16. Masanori Ishida (Team Sagawa Express) - 2:13:54 (Nobeoka, 2011)
101. Norimasa Nishina (Team Fujitsu) - 2:15:12 (Hofu, 2011)
102. Chia Che Chang (Taiwan) - 2:17:12 (Hofu, 2008)
104. Tetsuo Nishimura (Team YKK) - 2:14:22 (Biwako, 2007)
105. Rei Yoshioka (Team Yakult) - debut - 1:02:56 (Ageo, 2005)
112. Teruto Ozaki (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:13:28 (Beijing, 2006)
115. Takehiro Arakawa (Team Asahi Kasei) - debut - 1:03:17 (Tamana, 2011)
116. Yoshikazu Kawazoe (Team Asahi Kasei) - debut - 1:03:19 (Nat'l Corp. Half, 2010)
120. Yu Chiba (Team Honda) - debut - 1:04:01
121. Takaaki Tanaka (Toyo Univ.) - debut - 1:05:44

Women
2001. Kaori Yoshida (Amino Vital AC) - 2:29:45 (Chicago, 2010)
2002. Chiyuki Mochizuki (Canon AC Kyushu) - 2:39:57 (Beppu-Oita, 2011)
2003. Yuka Ezaki (Team Kyudenko) - 2:31:35 (Osaka Int'l, 2007)

Comments

Most-Read This Week

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