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Rio Olympian Ito Heads Elite Field of 21 at Kumanichi 30 km



On Jan. 16 the organizers of the Feb. 18 Kumamoto-jo Marathon announced the elite field of 21 women and men for the 62nd running of the accompanying Kanaguri Kinen Kumanichi 30 km Road Race. Rio de Janeiro Olympics women's marathoner Mai Ito (Otsuka Seiyaku), 2012 Kumanichi men's champion Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Konica Minolta) 2018 Hakone Ekiden MVP Keisuke Hayashi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) top the entry lists.

Seven corporate league men are on the entry list, which features Ugachi's teammate Gen Hachisuka (Konica Minolta), 28:15 10000 m runner Masato Terauchi (Aichi Seiko) and 2012 runner-up Yuki Oshikawa (Toyota Kyushu). Along with eight university men will also be in the race including two of the runners responsible for Toyo Univesity's 2018 Hakone Ekiden Day One win, Shuji Yamamoto and Akira Aizawa, and local Kyushu Gakuin H.S. graduate Shota Nakagawa (Nittai Univ.).

The women's field consists of six athletes including Ito. 2016 runner-up Mami Onuki (Sysmex), twins Yoko and Hiroko Miyauchi (both Hokuren), and Erika Ikeda (Higo Ginko) will face Ito. A total of 115 runners are entered in the Kumanichi 30 km, a JAAF-certified course starting in central Kumamoto and finishing in front of Kumanichi Kaikan.

62nd Kanaguri Kinen Kumanichi 30 km Road Race Elite Field
Kumamoto, 2/4/18
times listed are best within last three years except where noted

Women
Mai Ito (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:24:42 (Nagoya Women's Marathon 2015)
Mami Onuki (Sysmex) - 1:46:37 (Kumanichi 30 km 2016)
Yoko Miyauchi (Hokuren) - 1:46:41 (Kumanichi 30 km 2017)
Erika Ikeda (Higo Ginko) - 1:46:53 (Kumanichi 30 km 2017)
Hiroko Miyauchi (Hokuren) - 1:10:27 (Sanyo Ladies' Half 2015)
Nanayo Okamoto (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 1:14:49 (Osaka Half 2017)

Men
Akira Aizawa (Toyo Univ.) - 1:02:05 (Ageo City 2016)
Yuki Oshikawa (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:02:24 (Marugame 2017)
Gen Hachisuka (Konica Minolta) - 1:02:26 (Marugame Half 2015)
Fuminori Shimo (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:36 (Nat'l Univ Half 2017)
Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Konica Minolta) - 1:02:41 (Marugame Half 2016)
Toshio Takaki (DeNA) - 1:02:51 (Nat'l Univ Half 2015)
Haruki Minatoya (Tokai Univ.) - 1:02:54 (Ageo City 2015)
Shuji Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 1:02:56 (Nat'l Univ Half 2017)
Toshiya Sato (Hosei Univ.) - 1:02:56 (Kanagawa Half 2017)
Shota Nakagawa (Nittai Univ.) - 1:03:04 (Ageo City 2016)
Keisuke Hayashi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:28 (Setagaya 246 Half 2017)
Kazuya Azegami (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:03:34 (Nat'l Univ Half 2017)
Masato Terauchi (Aichi Seiko) - 1:03:38 (Nat'l Corp Half 2017)
Kazuyoshi Chiba (Yachiyo Kogyo) - 1:03:45 (Nat'l Univ Half 2016)
Keisuke Fujii (Toyota) - 1:04:03 (Nat'l Corp Half 2015)

source article: https://this.kiji.is/326166165851472993
translated by Brett Larner
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