Skip to main content

'Morita Signs Up for Brighton'

A Brighton Marathon press release

The Brighton Marathon will be breaking new ground when Japan’s Tomoyuki Morita lines up on April 6. Morita is the first Japanese athlete to compete in the race which celebrates its fifth edition this year. He joins a quality line-up as the Brighton Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label event, welcomes its most outstanding men’s elite field to date.

With a personal best of 2:09:12, Morita is the second fastest in a race that features four men who have run faster than the course record of 2:10:46. Kenya’s William Chebor, 31, heads the line-up. He clocked 2:08:21 in Turin three years ago and comes to Brighton off the back of his most recent win in Jakarta last October.

Morita, 29, who set his lifetime best at Lake Biwa in 2012, will also clash with course record holder, Dominic Kangor of Kenya. Morita’s half marathon best of 61:55 stems from Marugame 2012.
...........................................
For more information contact: Press Officer Michael Butcher michael.butcher@groundedevents.co.uk (Mobile 07801 826 593)

Additional information: Morita is coached by national record holder Toshinari Takaoka at the Kanebo corporate team.  His PB of 2:09:12 was the fourth-fastest debut marathon by a Japanese man.    The Kanebo corporation, a cosmetics manufacturer, was involved in a scandal last summer involving one of its products causing skin rashes.  As a sign of atonement to the public, Kanebo corporate management barred all of its sponsored athletes from competing until the end of the fiscal year on Mar. 31, 2014.  Morita will waste no time in getting back to racing just six days after the end of the team suspension.

MEN’S ELITE FIELD
William Chebor KEN 2:08:21
Tomoyuki Morita JPN 2:09:12
Raymond Kandie KEN 2:09:23
Belete Mekonen ETH 2:10:34
Dominic Kangor KEN 2:10:46
Wilfred Murgor KEN 2:11:41
Kidane Abdi ETH 2:12:57
Giovanni Ruggiero ITA 2:13:23
Pat Rizzo USA 2:13:42
Robert Langat KEN debut
Andrew Lesuuda KEN debut
Ian Kimpton GBR debut

WOMEN’S ELITE FIELD
Hellen Mugo KEN 2:27:16
Tanith Maxwell RSA 2:32:33
Alice Milgo KEN 2:37:06
Purity Kimetto KEN 2:37:20
Selam Abere ETH 2:36:08
Rebecca Robinson GBR 2:37:14

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