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Imai Over Kawauchi at Sendai International Half Marathon

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20160508/ath16050817510006-n1.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

 The Sendai International Half Marathon took place May 8 in Sendai, Miyagi, starting and finishing at Sendai Municipal Field.  Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu), a DNS with illness in last summer's Beijing World Championships marathon, won in 1:03:06, the first Japanese male to win in 12 years.  2014 Asian Games marathon silver medalist and two-time World Championships marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) was 5th in 1:04:35.

Kenyan Felista Wanjugu (Team Universal Entertainment) won the women's race in 1:12:05, the first non-Japanese women's champion since 2005.  Honami Maeda (Team Tenmaya) was 2nd.

26th Sendai International Half Marathon
Sendai, Miyagi, 5/816
click here for complete results

Men
1. Masato Imai (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:06
2. Tomohiro Tanigawa (Konica Minolta) - 1:03:11
3. Yuki Oshikawa (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:34
4. Ezekiel Chebotibin (Kenya/Toho Refine) - 1:04:22
5. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:04:35

Women
1. Felista Wanjugu (Kenya/Universal Entertainment) - 1:12:05
2. Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) - 1:13:02
3. Misato Horie (Noritz) - 1:13:21
4. Sachi Tanaka (Sports Yamagata 21) - 1:14:51
5. Haruna Takada (Yamada Denki) - 1:15:48

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