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Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon Sets Up Tadese Vs. Mathathi and Jepkirui Vs. Tufa

by Brett Larner

In its third running the Naoko Takahashi Cup Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon continues to take over from the Sendai International Half Marathon as Japan's premier late-spring half.  This year organizers have set up a pair of great duels among their overseas elites.

On the men's side, world record holder Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) faces course record holder Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) in a rematch of the 2007 Osaka World Championships 10000 m, where Tadese led most of the race until a surge from Mathathi, who ended up with bronze, knocked him out of the medals.  Other top international competition includes three-time Sapporo International Half Marathon winner Cyrus Njui (Kenya/Team Hitachi Seiryu), Japan-based Kenyans Jacob Wanjuki (Team Aichi Seiko) and Micah Njeru (Team Toyota Boshoku), 2005 Fukuoka International Marathon winner Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine) and American Ryan Vail. Seven sub-63 Japanese men are scheduled to run.  2010 Asian Games marathon silver medalist Yukihiro Kitaoka (Team NTN) leads the way, followed closely by civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't).

The women's field features a good matchup between 2012 Amsterdam Marathon runner-up Eunice Kirwa Jepkirui (Kenya) and 2008 World XC silver medalist Mestawet Tufa (Ethiopia).  Australian Lara Tamsett is also among the elites, as is the woman Gifu Seiryu honoree Naoko Takahashi narrowly beat out in the quest for the first women's sub-2:20 marathon, two-time Olympic marathon silver medalist Catherine Ndereba (Kenya). The Japanese women's field includes sub-73 women Manami Takemori (Team Kojima Press) and Ohtawara Marathon course record holder Kaori Akagawa (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC).

3rd Naoko Takahashi Cup Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon
Gifu, 5/19/13
click here for complete elite field

Men
Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) - 58:23
Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 59:48
Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:00:32
Cyrus Njui (Kenya/Team Hitachi Butsuryu) - 1:01:03
Micah Njeru (Kenya/Team Toyota Boshoku) - 1:01:33
Ryan Vail (U.S.A.) - 1:02:04
Patrick Muwaka (Kenya/Team Aisan Kogyo) - 1:02:14
Yukihiro Kitaoka (Team NTN) - 1:02:17
Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:02:18
Dishon Karukuwa Maina (Kenya/Team Omokawa Lumber) - 1:02:20
Masafumi Kitagawa (Team Toenec) - 1:02:35
Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 1:02:40
Kenzo Kawabata (Team Aisan Kogyo) - 1:02:45
Hiroto Naito (Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:02:56
Shingo Mishima (Team Toyota) - 1:02:56
Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine) - 1:03:14

Women
Catherine Ndereba (Kenya) - 1:07:54
Eunice Kirwa Jepkirui (Kenya) - 1:08:39
Mestawet Tufa (Ethiopia) - 1:08:48
Manami Takemori (Team Kojima Press) - 1:12:03
Lara Tamsett (Australia) - 1:12:19
Kaori Akagawa (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:12:28
Yuki Sakata (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:13:14
Yuko Mizuguchi (Team Denso) - 1:13:27
Shoko Shimizu (Team Aichi Denki) - 1:13:43
Chika Nakama (Team Aichi Denki) - 1:13:52

(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

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Anonymous said…
Is there going to be a live broadcast of the race?
May 17, 2013 at 1:46 PM
Brett Larner said…
Yes, highlights will be broadcast on BS-TBS at 15:00 on Sunday.
May 17, 2013 at 3:19 PM
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