Skip to main content

Kawauchi Wins BMW Oslo Marathon in Fastest Time Since 1986

Running his first race of any distance since finishing 9th at last month's London World Championships, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) won Saturday's BMW Oslo Marathon in the fastest time in Oslo since before he was born.

Pre-race Kawauchi's goal was to take a shot at the 2:12:58 Norwegian all-comers record, the fastest time ever run on Norwegian soil. With a new two-loop course featuring a pair of tough hills interspersed by a flat seaside section on each loop his game plan was to try to run 3:10/km until midway through the second lap, then try to push it on the climb and descent of the last hill to make up whatever seconds he needed.

15 km into the first lap he was 10 seconds ahead of schedule in 47:20 and 90 seconds clear of 2nd place, but the steep hill starting a kilometer later took its toll and by 20 km he was 24 seconds behind.  Over the second lap the strong sunlight and warmer than usual temperatures and the two weeks he took off after London also began to eat away at his pace, and despite pushing the downhill last 4 km sub-2:16 looked in doubt. But with his characteristic last kick Kawauchi crossed the line in 2:15:58, more than 10 minutes ahead of runner-up Frew Zenebe Birkineh (Ethiopia) and faster than anyone has run in Oslo since Swedish legend Kjell-Erik Stahl ran 2:14:59 in 1986 the year before Kawauchi was born. His 72nd career marathon, it was also his 70th time breaking 2:20:00.
Post-race Kawauchi was limping with pain in his left leg, telling reporters, "It was a tougher course than I was expecting, and my legs are totally dead. The downhills really hurt. I'm really happy to have won in my first time in Norway and I'm grateful to all the people of Oslo who cheered me on by name, but I was hoping to run a faster time. If I have the chance I hope to come back and try to do better." After the award ceremony he headed to a nearby beach to ice his legs in the cold seawater.

BMW Oslo Marathon

Oslo, Norway, 9/16/17
click here for complete results

Men's Marathon
1. Yuki Kawauchi (Japan/Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 2:15:58
2. Frew Zenebe Birkineh (Ethiopia) - 2:26:44
3. Andreas Grogaard (Norway) - 2:33:20

Women's Marathon
1. Hilde Aders (Norway) - 2:54:29
2. Camilla Frejd (Sweden) - 3:07:18
3. Mari Krakemo Finnerud (Norway) - 3:08:53

Men's Half Marathon
1. Okubamichael Fissehatsion (Eritrea) - 1:04:45
2. Zerei Kibrom Mezngi (Eritrea) - 1:04:54
3. Senay Fissehatsion (Norway) - 1:05:28

Women's Half Marathon
1. Runa Skrove Falch (Norway) - 1:16:30
2. Pemilla Eugenie Epland (Norway) - 1:17:04
3. Karoline Holsen Kyte (Norway) - 1:17:17

text, video and photos © 2017 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Metts said…
Looking at the overall results of both Oslo and Sydney, it seems the sub-elites those maybe between 2:20 and 2:40 have really disappeared.Even the 2:40 to 3:00 is lacking depth. I remember looking at the overall Tokyo results a few times and it seems the depth was/is still there in 2:20 to 2:40 and 2:40 to 3:00.

Most-Read This Week

Ninja Runner Yuka Ando Leads Japanese Women's Marathon Team in London: "I Want to Go For It"

Her form has been dubbed "ninja running." Both arms held straight down with almost no movement. That idiosyncratic style carried Yuka Ando , 23, to the fastest-ever marathon debut by a Japanese woman, 2:21:36, at March's Nagoya Women's Marathon to land at #4 on the all-time Japanese lists. All at once Ando found herself catapulted to the top level of women's marathoning, a candidate for Japan's next great marathoner. When she was younger Ando ran moving her arms like other runners, but she had a bad habit of moving robotically, her upper body and lower body not working in sync. The turning point came in 2014 when she joined Suzuki Hamamatsu AC . Working there with coach Masayuki Satouchi to eliminate the faults in her form, the pair arrived at the ninja running style that let her run relaxed. "Other people keep asking me, "Isn't it hard to run like that?" but for me it's comfortable," she said. The efficient form helped her mai

Yamaguchi 10th at United Airlines NYC Half - Weekend Overseas Results

2024 national cross-country champion Tomonori Yamaguchi was the top Japanese finisher in the men's race at the United Airlines NYC Half , taking 10th in 1:04:36. A 2nd-year at Waseda University , Yamaguchi was one of three collegiate runners running New York in the 11th year of JRN's development program collaboration between the Ageo City Half Marathon and the New York Road Runners, a program that has seen people like future half marathon and marathon NR breaker Yuta Shitara and Paris Olympic team member Akira Akasaki make their international debuts. Yamaguchi's Waseda teammate Taishi Ito started fast, going with the leaders through 5 km in 14:29 before losing touch. Hosei University senior Rei Matsunaga went through in 14:42 in his last race before joining the JR Higashi Nihon corporate team in April. Yamaguchi, who caught COVID after winning last month's National Cross-Country Championships, started more conservatively with a 15:11 first 5km. But where both Ito

Rui Aoki Wins National University Men's Half Marathon - Weekend Results

Yuka Ando 's win at the Nagoya Women's Marathon was the big news of the weekend, but there were other high-level races happening, even in Nagoya. Held in parallel with the marathon, the Nagoya City Half Marathon saw Australians Natalie Rule and Ed Goddard take easy wins by about 2.5 minutes each, Rule in 1:13:57 and Goddard in 1:04:01. The new Biwako Marathon also had a non-Japanese winner, China's Yousheng Guan scoring 1st in 2:14:58 with Japan's Hirohito Sugai next in 2:16:40. Mikiko Ota won the women's race in 2:50:44. The Shizuoka Marathon returned for its first running in five years, with club runner Shumpei Oda leading the top 7 men under 2:20 in 2:15:36. Women's winner Remi Tanaka ran 2:41:23, beating runner-up Ayumi Sano by exactly 7 minutes. And in Tokyo, Rui Aoki continued what has been a great season so far for Koku Gakuin University with a win at the National University Men's Half Marathon . Aoki and Hiro Konda of Chuo Gakuin Unive