Skip to main content

Wanjiru and Wendimu Headline New Taipei City Wanjinshi Marathon

by Brett Larner


Sendai Ikuei H.S. graduate Ruth Wanjiru (Kenya) and 2:06:46 man Eshetu Wendimu (Ethiopia) headline the international field at Sunday's New Taipei City Wanjinshi Marathon, where with good weather in the forecast the 2:17:17 and 2:34:52 course records are bound to fall.  Special guests in attendance to celebrate Wanjinshi's first edition as an IAAF bronze label race, the first label race in Taiwan, include include former pole vault world record holder and IAAF vice president Sergey Bubka.

Wanjiru at the pre-race press conference.

Wanjiru leads the small women's field of seven, the only woman there to have broken 2:30 in her career with a 2:27:38 at the 2009 Osaka International Women's Marathon.  In the absence of last year's winner Ji Hyang Kim (North Korea), Wanjiru's main competition look to be her countrywoman Rose Kosgei (Kenya) and Aregu Lechisa Awaki (Ethiopia).

Miyata and Bubka.

His 2:06:46 in Dubai in 2010 makes Wendimu look like the favorite, but with a best time in the last three years of only 2:14:29 he's certainly vulnerable to others, especially in the Ethiopian contingent and Kenyan Eliud Kiplagat Barngetuny.  Adam Draczynski (Poland) is the best of the non-Africans in the field with a 2:10:49 in Vienna in 2010, but with nothing to show since then but a 2:15:01 at the 2012 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon his current fitness is doubtful.  Running with support form JRN, independent Etsu Miyata (Japan), with a 2:13:19 best from Nagano in 2010 and more recently a 2:14:09 in Nobeoka in 2013, hopes to be among those at the front contending for the win over the mostly downhill last 7 km.

JRN will be onhand to cover the New Taiepei City Wanjinshi Marathon live.  Check back for photos, results and more.

New Taipei City Wanjinshi Marathon Elite Field
New Taipei City, Taiwan, 3/22/15
click here for complete field listing

Men
Eshetu Wendimu Tsige (Ethiopia) - 2:06:46 (Dubai 2010)
Abdelmounaim Harroufi (Morocco) - 2:09:11 (Dubai 2014)
Andre Sambu Sipe (Tanzania) - 2:09:52 (Seoul 2004)
Eliud Kiplagat Barngetuny (Kenya) - 2:11:07 (Beijing 2014)
Adam Draczynski (Poland) - 2:10:49 (Vienna 2010)
Ahmed Nasef (Morocco) - 2:10:59 (Chongqinq 2012)
Etsu Miyata (Japan) - 2:13:19 (Nagano 2010)
Debesay Tsige (Eritrea) - 2:13:58 (Frankfurt 2012)
Dadi Tesfaye Beyene (Ethiopia) - 2:14:38 (Porto 2012)
Artur Kern (Poland) - 2:17:15 (Poznan 2011)
Chin Ping Ho (Taiwan) - 2:17:42 (Lake Biwa 2015)
Girma Hailu Firo (Ethiopia) - debut

Women
Ruth Wanjiru Kuria (Kenya) - 2:27:38 (Osaka Int'l 2009)
Rose Chekurui Kosgei (Kenya) - 2:30:52 (Toronto 2010)
Aregu Lechisa Awaki (Ethiopia) - 2:31:56 (Cannes 2012)
Lucia Mwihaki Kimani (Bosnia & Herzegovina) - 2:34:57 (Zagreb 2011)
Eliana Patelli (Italy) - 2:36:18 (Carpi 2011)
Tigist Teshome Ayanu (Ethiopia) - 2:36:29 (Marrakesh 2015)
Almaz Negede Fekade (Ethiopia) - 2:37:42 (Shanghai 2014)

text and photos (c) 2015 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

CR Holder Teruki Shimada Returns to Launceston Half - Preview and Streaming

Last year's McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania, Australia shaped out into a great Australia vs. Japan dual meet , with Jessica Stenson outrunning Yumi Yoshikawa to take the women's title in a 1:09:51 CR, and Teikyo University school record holder Teruki Shimada executing a tactically brilliant race to drop Isaac Heyne , then-NR holder Brett Robinson , and Teikyo teammate Jinya Ozaki for the win in 1:01:12, just a second off the Australian all-comers record. Marathon NR holder Andy Buchanan took that record down to 1:01:08 at the Gold Coast Half a month later, but its chances of surviving this weekend aren't looking good. Shimada leads last year's top 4 back to Launceston this year, and there's a lot of tough new competition. 2025 National Corporate Half winner Tsubasa Ichiyama , Australia's Haftu Strintzos , new Teikyo record holder Yuta Asakawa and American Ethan Shuley have all run faster that Buchanan's rec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Murayama and Sasaki Making U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10 km

Every year since 2012 that there's been a United Airlines NYC Half , JRN has partnered with the NYRR and November's Ageo City Half Marathon to bring two top-tier collegiate Japanese men to the NYC Half for what's usually been their international debuts. For years we've wanted to extend that program to include top collegiate women, but that has always faced 2 problems. For one, while the half marathon distance is the main focus for Japanese collegiate men due to the stage lengths at the Hakone Ekiden, few collegiate women run it. Those that do run the National University Women's Half Marathon in Matsue, held the same day as the NYC Half. This year, though, we're finally making it happen in a slightly different way. Amisa Murayama and Nazuki Sasaki of 2025 Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden national collegiate championship runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University are joining the field for the NYRR's Mastercard New York Mini 10 km on June 6. After running an 18:14 CR ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more