Skip to main content

Murayama and Tanaka Crack Top Ten at New York City Half Marathon



by Brett Larner
photos courtesy Photo Run / NYRR

Invited to race after finishing in the top two spots at last November's Ageo City Half Marathon, Kenta Murayama (Komazawa University) and Kento Otsu (Toyo University) ran the 2013 New York City Half Marathon on Mar. 17.  Up front through the slow 15:04 first 5 km, Otsu dropped back before the lead pack left Central Park while Murayama took the lead near halfway and stayed with the leaders including world-level medalists Wilson Kipsang (Kenya), Bernard Lagat (U.S.A.) and Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) through 15 km.  "I looked around at 15 km and couldn't believe some of the people I was still there with," Murayama told JRN post-race.

Falling behind with Kipsang's move at 15 km, he still managed to get into the top ten with a time of 1:02:02, exactly one minute off winner Kipsang and beating his hero Lagat by nearly 30 seconds.  Otsu, who suffered injury setbacks following January's Hakone Ekiden, ran 1:04:03 for 19th, slower than his 1:03:14 at last year's New York Half but improving on his 25th-place finish.  "Central Park is hard," he told JRN.  2012 National Corporate Half Marathon winner Tomomi Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) ran 1:10:31 for 8th in the women's race, almost 45 seconds off her best.

2013 New York City Half Marathon
New York, 3/17/13
click here for complete results

Men
1. Wilson Kipsang (Kenya) - 1:01:02
2. Daniele Meucci (Italy) - 1:01:06 - PB
3. Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) - 1:01:10
4. Leonard Korir (Kenya) - 1:01:19 - debut
5. Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 1:01:21 - PB
6. Sam Chelanga (Kenya) - 1:01:26
7. Stephen Sambu (Kenya) - 1:01:34 - PB
8. Julius Arile (Kenya) - 1:01:38
9. Jason Hartmann (U.S.A.) - 1:01:51 - PB
10. Kenta Murayama (Japan/Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:02
-----
12. Bernard Lagat (U.S.A.) - 1:02:33 - debut
19. Kento Otsu (Japan/Toyo Univ.) - 1:04:03

Women
1. Caroline Rotich (Kenya) - 1:09:09
2. Diane Nukuri-Johnson (Burundi) - 1:09:12 - NR
3. Lisa Stublic (Croatia) - 1:09:18 - NR
4. Sabrina Mockenhaupt (Germany) - 1:09:42
5. Lyudmila Kovalenko (Ukraine) - 1:09:43 - NR
6. Madai Perez (Mexico) - 1:10:27
7. Yolanda Caballero (Colombia) - 1:10:30 - NR
8. Tomomi Tanaka (Japan/Team Daiichi Seimei) - 1:10:31
9. Stephanie Rothstein-Bruce (U.S.A.) - 1:10:53 - PB
10. Sara Moreira (Portugal) - 1:11:03
-----
DNF - Kim Smith (New Zealand)

(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

 photos (c) 2013 Photo Run/NYRR
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