Skip to main content

Katayama Runs World-Leader at Lake Saroma 100 km; Women's Champ Mochizuki Wins 50 km Overall

by Brett Larner

Japan's premier ultramarathon, the Lake Saroma 100 km and 50 km, saw its 27th running on Sunday, June 24. The 100 km was largely a battle of familiar faces on both the men's and women's sides, as national team stalwart and 2011 4th-placer Yoshikazu Hara moved up to take the win over last year's runner-up Hideo Nojo in 6:33:32.  Nojo improved on last year's mark but was still over two minutes behind Hara, running 6:35:52.

In the women's race defending champion Naomi Ochiai was only 4th in 7:56:42, but 2011 runner-up  Shiho Katayama took over 20 minutes off her time from last year to win in a world-leading 7:33:38.  Last year's 50 km division winner and former corporate marathoner Yuka Ezaki made a good transition to the 100 km distance, finishing 5th in 8:04:02.

The most surprising action came in the 50 km, where 25-year-old Chiyuki Mochizuki (Canon AC Kyushu), the two-time Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon women's division winner, outran men's division newcomer Fumito Matsuda for the overall win by less than a minute, clocking 3:25:43 to Matsuda's 3:26:42.

27th Lake Saroma Ultramarathon
Lake Saroma, Hokkaido, 6/24/12

Men's 100 km
1. Yoshikazu Hara - 6:33:32
2. Hideo Nojo - 6:35:52
3. Takayoshi Shigemi - 6:43:55
4. Takahiro Shimamoto - 6:49:15
5. Masakazu Takahashi - 6:58:19

Women's 100 km
1. Shiho Katayama - 7:33:38
2. Mai Fujisawa - 7:53:31
3. Yukiko Oda - 7:54:24
4. Naomi Ochiai - 7:56:42
5. Yuka Ezaki - 8:04:02

Men's 50 km
1. Fumito Matsuda - 3:26:42
2. Yoji Takahashi - 3:49:29
3. Hiroki Murakami - 3:57:19

Women's 50 km
1. Chiyuki Mochizuki - 3:25:43
2. Yuko Kikui - 4:13:30
3. Tae Kawano - 4:16:38

(c) 2012 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more

Mashiko Breaks U20 5000 m NR - Weekend Track Roundup

Saturday's Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto was the weekend's main event in Japanese track, but there were good results at the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama too. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) led the men's 5000 m A-heat at Kanakuri in 13:14.06, with Tomonori Yamaguchi (SGH) clocking the fastest Japanese time in 13:16.38 in his first race as a corporate leaguer. Waseda University duo Rui Suzuki and Yota Mashiko went 6-7 in 13:20.64 and 13:22.87, the 18-year-old Mashiko shaving 0.04 off the U20 NR. In 8th, Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) ran a PB of 13:23.92. 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) continued to struggle after a weak indoor season, finishing 18th of 20 finishers in 13:45.10. 19-year-old Festus Kimorwo (Kurosaki Harima) was under 13:20 in the B-heat too, winning in a 13:19.59 PB. 2 more collegiate men broke 13:30, Daichi Fujita (Chuo Univ.) 8th in 13:28.93 and Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) 9th in 13:29.09. The top 6 in the men's 800 m A-hea...
1 comment
Read more