Skip to main content

Imai and Ito Win Shibetsu Half Marathon in 29-Degree Temperatures

http://www.niigata-nippo.co.jp/world/sports/20130721055950.html
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20130721/ath13072115580000-n1.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Former Hakone Ekiden Fifth Stage star Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) won the July 21 Suffolkland Shibetsu Half Marathon, tying the course record of 1:03:24.  Defending champion Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) won the women's race in 1:12:27, with rookie Sayuri Oka (Team Daihatsu) taking the women's 10 km in 33:24. Last year's men's winner, Moscow World Championships marathon team member Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), ended his day in 22nd after running only 1:06:45.

With temperatures climbing to 29 degrees, Kawauchi lost touch with the lead pack after 7 km.  By halfway he was 15 seconds behind, and in the second half he rapidly lost speed.  "My legs felt a little heavy," said Kawauchi.

Having done the race as part of his training it was something of a miss for the amateur runner.  "My goal here was not to completely blow it, but I blew it entirely.  I have to find a way to beat the heat," he added unhappily.  Including June's Okinoshima 50 km Ultramarathon where he suffered dehydration, Kawauchi has shown weakness running hot conditions.  Temperatures in Moscow in August average 22 degrees.  "That's better than other summer races," Kawauchi said.  "I'm glad they put it somewhere cool."

Following an acupuncture session to aid his recovery this week Kawauchi plans to run the July 28 Kushiro Shitsugen 30 km road race for his final pre-Worlds tuneup.  But with less than a month to go to the big day on August 17 his result in Shibetsu has to have left him with his share of uncertainty.

27th Suffolkland Shibetsu Half Marathon and 10 km
Shibetsu, Hokkaido, 7/21/13
click here for complete results

Men's Half Marathon
1. Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:24 - CR tie
2. Leul Gebreselassie (Ethiopia/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:03:41
3. Ryuji Watanabe (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 1:04:01 - PB
4. Shingo Mishima (Team Toyota) - 1:04:03
5. Masaki Shimoju (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:04:04
6. Tomohiro Tanigawa (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:04:13
7. Yuya Konishi (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 1:04:57
8. Kazuki Ikenaga (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:04:58
9. Shoya Kurokawa (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:05:06
10. Masaki Toda (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 1:05:19
-----
22. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:06:45

Women's Half Marathon
1. Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:12:27
2. Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 1:12:52
3. Yuki Mitsunobu (Team Kyocera) - 1:13:54
4. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 1:14:16
5. Rika Shintaku (Team Shimamura) - 1:14:24
6. Shino Saito (Team Shimamura) - 1:14:27
7. Yuka Hakoyama (Team Wacoal) - 1:14:52
8. Ayaka Hitomi (Team Shimamura) - 1:15:24
9. Saki Tabata (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:16:22
10. Eri Hayakawa (Team Toto) - 1:16:45

Women's 10 km
1. Sayuri Oka (Team Daihatsu) - 33:24
2. Reia Iwade (Team Noritz) - 33:50
3. Misato Tanaka (Team Sysmex) - 33:53
4. Shoko Mori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 33:56
5. Yui Okada (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 34:03

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Goshima and Kasai Win 10000 m National Titles, Maeda Breaks U20 Asian Record

Rino Goshima and Jun Kasai stepped up with PBs to win the 2024 National Championships 10000 m titles Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. In the women's race, Goshima, 4th in last December's 2023 National Championships 10000 m, went out front from the start with Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich pacing and 2023 3rd-placer Haruka Kokai in tow. Things were never on track to hit the 30:40.00 Paris Olympics standard, but except for a brief dip to 3:08 at 7000 m Goshima held steady at 3:05 to 3:06/km even as Kokai and Jepngetich fell off. With blood dripping from her left knee after getting spiked by Jepngetich, Goshima closed in 3:03 to take 5 seconds off her best from December's Nationals and win in 30:53.31, moving up to all-time Japanese #6. Jepngetich also PBd at 31:09.42 without counting in the standings, with Kokai 2nd in 31:10.53 and Kazuna Kanetomo 3rd in a PB 31:59.29. The runner-up last time, Yuka Takashima was last in 33:33.27. The men's race went out in a

Ichiyama 8th at Copenhagen Marathon

Currently the #10-ranked Japanese man in the marathon with the fastest-ever domestic time at the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) made his international debut at Sunday's Copenhagen Marathon , literally an international debut as it was his first time outside the country. Ichiyama hoped to be in contention to break the 2:08:23 CR and go for the win, and with cool and breezy conditions ran easy in the lead group through 30 km. But something ate away at almost everyone as time went by, several people in the lead men's and women's groups saying humidity, and past 30 km Ichiyama fell off. Falling as low as 9th, he rallied after 40 km to finish 8th in 2:13:07. "It was different than in Japanese races," he said. "I'm used to bigger packs and more even pacing, but this was a kind of racing I hadn't done before. There's a lot to think about. I didn't feel like I was sweating a lot, but I got really thirsty and started sk

Golden Games in Nobeoka Top Results

  For everyone not running yesterday's 10000 m National Championships , where the Asahi Kasei corporate team dominated the men's race with four out of four men sub-28 including winner Jun Kasai , 27:17.46, the grand dame of Japan's long distance time trial circuit was happening on AK's home ground in Miyazaki at the Golden Games in Nobeoka . Not including kids' races, a total of 74 women and 227 men ran in 14 heats of 5000 m, with a packed-in crowd of fans lining the track beating on metal sponsor boards with batons. It's a pretty awesome meet, and memorable performances included: National champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. standout Caroline Kariba continued to kill it in the second month of her corporate league career, winning the 5000 m A-heat in 15:00.95 in a race where 3 out of the top 4 including her ran PBs. National champion Meijo University seemed flat at this point in the season, with none of its people under 16 minutes and star Nanase Tanimoto leading