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'Kisorio Versus Mogusu - Preview of Marugame Half Marathon'

http://www.iaaf.org/Mini/LRR12/News/NewsDetail.aspx?id=63475

To Ken Nakamura's preview of Sunday's 66th Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon I would add mention of sub-28 World Championships 10000 m runner Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei) tuning up for his marathon debut at the Tokyo Marathon after a good New Year Ekiden run, and the crop of top Hakone Ekiden university runners in the field.  Keita Shitara (Toyo Univ.) is the most worth watching, making his official half marathon debut after having run 1:08:04 on the 23.2 km Second Stage at Hakone, equivalent to a 1:01:54 half marathon at a flat conversion.  Last year's #2 Japanese half marathoner, Hiromitsu Kakuage (Komazawa Univ.) returns along with his teammate, Hakone Ekiden Ninth Stage winner Shinobu Kubota,, whose 1:09:04 clocking for 23.2 km at Hakone suggests mid-62 capability.  Waseda University's strong Shuhei Yamamoto and Hiroyuki Sasaki are scheduled to make their half marathon debuts, and Kokushikan University distance ace Masaki Ito will be looking to improve on his PB of 1:02:53.  2010 Ottawa Marathon winner Arata Fujiwara (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) is also in the field, testing his fitness ahead of an attempted comeback in Tokyo after a bad year.
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Masato Yoshihara said…
Is Fujiwara not with RemoSystem anymore?
February 4, 2012 at 2:01 PM
Brett Larner said…
No. He fired his Japanese manager and parted ways with Remo last year. A bad year in many ways.
February 4, 2012 at 4:55 PM
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