Skip to main content

Hashimoto and Yoshimatsu Win Hofu Yomiuri Marathon

by Brett Larner


In just his second marathon, 2016 Aoyama Gakuin University graduate Ryo Hashimoto (Team GMO Athletes) ran a PB of over three minutes to win the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon in 2:11:20.  Pacers took the race through 25 km at a relatively steadily pace on target for around 2:11:45.  With their departure at 26 km Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) repeated his big play from the Fukuoka International Marathon two weeks ago, throwing in a hard surge and opening a gap of 10 seconds over the rest of the field.  Hashimoto and Taiki Yoshimura (Team Asahi Kasei) were the only two to try to follow, and by 30 km they had started to close the gap.


Hashimoto passed Kawauchi near 32 km, splitting 15:05 from 30 to 35 km as he pulled away.  It was a pace he couldn't sustain but enough to guarantee him the win with a solid negative split.  Yoshimura passed Kawauchi around 34 km, pushing on for a one-minute PB of 2:12:19 for 2nd.  Showing the effects of his hard run in Fukuoka, Kawauchi had none of his usual finishing power, taking 3rd in 2:12:45. Hashimoto's 2:11:20 winning time made him the #9 Japanese man of the year in the marathon, a solid achievement in his first year as a pro at the new GMO Athletes team after being a benchwarmer at Aoyama Gakuin who never made the school's Hakone Ekiden team.  For Kawauchi it was his 34th career sub-2:13, 40th sub-2:14 and 50th sub-2:16, all new world records.


In the women's race, course record holder Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) went out head-to-head with top-ranked pro Yuka Takemoto (Canon AC Kyushu), the pair splitting 18:00 through 5 km on pace to break Yoshimatsu's year-old course record of 2:35:46 by four minutes.  Surprisingly, Takemoto fell off quickly, 36 seconds behind at 10 km and plummeting backwards after that on the way to a DNF.  Yoshimatsu pushed on solo, her pace slowing before evening out to mid-2:34.  After 35 km she ran into trouble, splitting 21:06 from 35 to 40 km, but with a lead over over 10 minutes she was never in danger of losing the race.  Shuffling in to break the tape in 2:40:21, Yoshimatsu claimed her fourth-straight and sixth total Hofu Yomiuri Marathon win, the most dominant champion female or male in Hofu's 47-year history.

47th Hofu Yomiuri Marathon
Hofu, Yamaguchi, 12/18/16
click here for complete results

Men
1. Ryo Hashimoto (GMO Athletes) - 2:11:20 - PB
2. Taiki Yoshimura (Asahi Kasei) - 2:12:19 - PB
3. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 2:12:45
4. Isaac Macharia (Kenya) - 2:15:09
5. Yasuyuki Nakamura (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:15:35
6. Shinichi Yamashita (Takigahara SDF Base) - 2:16:22 - PB
7. Nao Kazami (Aichi T&F Assoc.) - 2:17:29 - PB
8. Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:18:15
9. Yuki Fujii (Tokuyama) - 2:19:08 - PB
10. Mahoro Ikeda (Aichi Seiko) - 2:19:38 - PB
-----
DNF - Ezekiel Jafary (Tanzania)

Women
1. Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) - 2:40:21
2. Noriko Sato (First Dream AC) - 2:48:51
3. Ai Ogo (Himeji T&F Assoc.) - 2:50:01
-----
DNF - Yuka Takemoto (Canon AC Kyushu)

© 2016 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Hassan Runs NR/CR for Osaka Win, Dibaba Hits Women's CR, Yoshida and Shuley Earn Legends

This was maybe the most entertaining marathon in years. After rocking the 2nd leg at last year's Hakone Ekiden Hibiki Yoshida (Sunbelx) ran an incredible 1:01:01 CR for the 21.9 km New Year Ekiden 2nd leg last month, equivalent to a 58:47 half marathon. That predicted a 2:03:27 marathon if he ever ran one, and when Yoshida announced he was debuting at this year's Osaka Marathon he wasted no time in saying it'd be a shot at the 2:04:55 NR. Things went out fast enough with a 14:50 split through 5 km, 2:05:11 pace, but Yoshida just couldn't hold back and took off at 8 km. He clearly DGAF about what was probably going to happen as his projected finish kept getting faster, 2:04:41, 2:04:15, 2:03:51, 2:03:40, edging closer and closer to what his New Year time predicted, but not helped along by the fact that he missed 4 out of his first 5 drink bottles. People laughed, and then cheered him on. 30 km was the first time he slowed, his finish projection dropping to 2:03:53, an...
3 comments
Read more

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...
1 comment
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more