Skip to main content

Augusto, Birmingham, Fujiwara, Mathathi Headline Marugame Half (updated)

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20140114-OHT1T00116.htm
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/news/140115/kgw14011502170000-n1.htm

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Jan. 14 the organizers of the Feb. 2 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon announced the 35 men and 12 women making up the domestic and overseas elite fields for the event's 68th running.  London Olympics marathoner Arata Fujiwara (Miki House), 2012 National Corporate Half Marathon champion Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota), Hakone Ekiden Seventh Stage winner Hazuma Hattori of Hakone champion Toyo University, 2013 Izumo Ekiden and National University Ekiden stage record setter Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.) and last month's Fukuoka International Marathon winner Martin Mathathi (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) top the domestic list for the men's race.  This year's race is a selection event for the men's team for March's World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen, meaning many top corporate team stars are also on the list.  Their four overseas competitors include defending champion Collis Birmingham (Australia) and London Olympics 5000 m runner Amanuel Mesel (Eritrea).

The women's race features November's Yokohama International Women's Marathon runner-up Azusa Nojiri (Hiratsuka Lease), 2009 Tokyo Marathon runner-up Yukari Sahaku (Team Univ. Ent.) and, from overseas, London Olympics marathon 7th-placer Jessica Augusto (Portugal).

A total of 11,705 people are entered in the half marathon, 3 km and 1 km divisions, with 10,577 entered in the half.  Although the application deadline has passed, entries will also be accepted the day before the race.  Final numbers are expected to be similar to last year's 12,810 entrants.

68th Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon Elite Field
Marugame, Kagawa, 2/2/14
click here for complete field listing

Women
Jessica Augusto (Portugal) - 1:09:10 (Ostia 2011)
Yukari Sahaku (Team Universal Entertainment) - 1:09:36 (Sapporo Int'l 2009)
Eri Hayakawa (Team Toto) - 1:10:13 (Marugame 2013)
Misato Horie (Team Noritz) - 1:10:26 (Marugame 2013)
Yolanda Caballero (Colombia) - 1:10:30 (New York 2013)
Azusa Nojiri (Hiratsuka Lease) - 1:10:53 (National Corporate Championships 2009)
Ayame Takaki (Meijo University) - 1:11:10 (Matsue Ladies' 2012)
Aliaksandra Duliba (Belarus) - 1:11:30 (Chicago 2013)
Seongeun Kim (South Korea) - 1:11:34 (Marugame 2010)
Kikuyo Tsuzaki (Team Noritz) - 1:11:53 (Matsue Ladies' 2009)
Michi Numata (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 1:12:47 (Sanyo Ladies' 2013)
Ho-Sun Park (South Korea) - 1:12:58 (Marugame 2008)

Men
Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 58:56a (Great North Run 2011)
Amanuel Mesel (Eritrea) - 1:00:10 (Prague 2013)
Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:00:32 (Nagoya 2010)
Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) - 1:00:53 (National Corporate Championships 2012)
Collis Birmingham (Australia) - 1:00:56 (Marugame 2013)
Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Team Fujitsu) - 1:01:01 (Marugame 2012)
Kenta Murayama (Komazawa University) - 1:01:19 (Marugame 2013)
Yusuke Takabayashi (Team Toyota) - 1:01:31 (Marugame 2012)
Arata Fujiwara (Miki House) - 1:01:34 (Marugame 2012)
Yemane Tsegaye (Ethiopia) - 1:01:37 (Prague 2010)
Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota) - 1:01:41 (National Corporate Championships 2009)
Tatsunori Hamasaki (Team Komori Corp.) - 1:01:45 (Marugame 2012)
Ryotaro Nitta (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:01:45 (Marugame 2012)
Yuta Igarashi (Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:01:46 (Marugame 2012)
Hiromitsu Kakuage (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:01:56 (Marugame 2012)
Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei) - 1:01:58 (Marugame 2012)
Akihiko Tsumurai (Team Mazda) - 1:01:58 (National Corporate Championships 2010)
Yusei Nakao (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:02:00 (Sendai 2008)
Yoshihiro Yamamoto (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 1:02:03 (Nat'l Corp. Championships 2004)
Osamu Ibata (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:02:08 (Sendai 2008)
Kenta Iinuma (Team SGH Group Sagawa) - 1:02:09 (Marugame 2012)
Tomohiro Tanigawa (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:02:17 (Marugame 2013)
Shuho Dairokuno (Meiji University) - 1:02:19 (Marugame 2012)
Chiharu Takada (Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:02:22 (Marugame 2013)
Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) - 1:02:23 (Hakodate 2004)
Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda) - 1:02:23 (Kyoto 2003)
Masato Kikuchi (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:02:26 (Marugame 2013)
Masatoshi Kikuchi (Team Fujitsu) - 1:02:28 (Marugame 2012)
Takashi Kumamoto (Team Toyota) - 1:02:29 (National Corporate Championships 2007)
Koki Takada (Waseda University) - 1:02:38 (Ageo 2013)
Yusuke Nishiyama (Komazawa University) - 1:02:54 (Ageo 2013)
Hazuma Hattori (Toyo University) - 1:02:54 (Ageo 2013)
Hiroto Inoue (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:58 (National University Championships 2013)
Jeffrey Eggleston (U.S.A.) - 1:03:41
Daniel Muiva Kitonyi (Kenya/Nihon Univ.) - 58:00 (Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai 20 km 2013)
Kota Murayama (Josai University) - 59:17 (Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai 20 km 2013)
Kazuma Ganaha (Kanagawa University) - 59:29 (Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai 20 km 2013)

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Ninja Runner Yuka Ando Leads Japanese Women's Marathon Team in London: "I Want to Go For It"

Her form has been dubbed "ninja running." Both arms held straight down with almost no movement. That idiosyncratic style carried Yuka Ando , 23, to the fastest-ever marathon debut by a Japanese woman, 2:21:36, at March's Nagoya Women's Marathon to land at #4 on the all-time Japanese lists. All at once Ando found herself catapulted to the top level of women's marathoning, a candidate for Japan's next great marathoner. When she was younger Ando ran moving her arms like other runners, but she had a bad habit of moving robotically, her upper body and lower body not working in sync. The turning point came in 2014 when she joined Suzuki Hamamatsu AC . Working there with coach Masayuki Satouchi to eliminate the faults in her form, the pair arrived at the ninja running style that let her run relaxed. "Other people keep asking me, "Isn't it hard to run like that?" but for me it's comfortable," she said. The efficient form helped her mai

Yamaguchi 10th at United Airlines NYC Half - Weekend Overseas Results

2024 national cross-country champion Tomonori Yamaguchi was the top Japanese finisher in the men's race at the United Airlines NYC Half , taking 10th in 1:04:36. A 2nd-year at Waseda University , Yamaguchi was one of three collegiate runners running New York in the 11th year of JRN's development program collaboration between the Ageo City Half Marathon and the New York Road Runners, a program that has seen people like future half marathon and marathon NR breaker Yuta Shitara and Paris Olympic team member Akira Akasaki make their international debuts. Yamaguchi's Waseda teammate Taishi Ito started fast, going with the leaders through 5 km in 14:29 before losing touch. Hosei University senior Rei Matsunaga went through in 14:42 in his last race before joining the JR Higashi Nihon corporate team in April. Yamaguchi, who caught COVID after winning last month's National Cross-Country Championships, started more conservatively with a 15:11 first 5km. But where both Ito

Rui Aoki Wins National University Men's Half Marathon - Weekend Results

Yuka Ando 's win at the Nagoya Women's Marathon was the big news of the weekend, but there were other high-level races happening, even in Nagoya. Held in parallel with the marathon, the Nagoya City Half Marathon saw Australians Natalie Rule and Ed Goddard take easy wins by about 2.5 minutes each, Rule in 1:13:57 and Goddard in 1:04:01. The new Biwako Marathon also had a non-Japanese winner, China's Yousheng Guan scoring 1st in 2:14:58 with Japan's Hirohito Sugai next in 2:16:40. Mikiko Ota won the women's race in 2:50:44. The Shizuoka Marathon returned for its first running in five years, with club runner Shumpei Oda leading the top 7 men under 2:20 in 2:15:36. Women's winner Remi Tanaka ran 2:41:23, beating runner-up Ayumi Sano by exactly 7 minutes. And in Tokyo, Rui Aoki continued what has been a great season so far for Koku Gakuin University with a win at the National University Men's Half Marathon . Aoki and Hiro Konda of Chuo Gakuin Unive