Asahikawa Half Marathon Kicks Off Fall Under Clear Blue Skies

The 2017 Asahikawa Half Marathon took place Sept. 24 on a course starting and finishing at Asahikawa's Hanasaki Sports Park Field. This year marked the event's ninth running. 4176 runners from Hokkaido and elsewhere took part in its half marathon, 10 km, 5 km and 3 km divisions, cheered on to the finish line by local residents under the clear blue skies of early autumn.

The half marathon course ran both through the city and through the grounds of the local SDF base. Civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi (30, Saitama Pref. Gov't) took one minute 27 seconds off the course record to win in 1:05:06. "It was a really fun course," he said afterward.

source article: https://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/article/134313
translated by Brett Larner

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