Skip to main content

Cheboitibin and Waku Win Ichinoseki International Half Marathon



The 37th Ichinoseki International Half Marathon took place Sept. 23, starting and finishing outside Ichonoseki Municipal Sports Gymnasium. Ezekiel Cheboitibin (Sunbelx) won the men's division in 1:03:53, while Mirai Waku (Universal Entertainment) took the women's race in 1:15:41. For both athletes it was the first time to win in Ichinoseki. 2:09:21 marathoner Koji Gokaya (JR Higashi Nihon) was the top Japanese man at 2nd in 1:05:54, and Boston Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) finished 7th in 1:07:31.

A record total of 3079 people from within the country and without entered the half, 10 km, 5 km and 3 km divisions, with 2916 finishing. Under brilliant blue skies temperatures reached an unseasonably hot 27.2˚C, leaving participants dripping with sweat. Men's half marathon entrant Soya Saito, 28, a resident of Morioka, commented, "It was a lot hotter than most years, but it was really nice to run through the beautiful golden rice fields."

source articles:
https://www.iwate-np.co.jp/article/2018/9/24/23926
https://www.iwate-np.co.jp/article/2018/9/24/23911
translated and edited by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

Mashiko Breaks U20 5000 m NR - Weekend Track Roundup

Saturday's Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto was the weekend's main event in Japanese track, but there were good results at the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama too. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) led the men's 5000 m A-heat at Kanakuri in 13:14.06, with Tomonori Yamaguchi (SGH) clocking the fastest Japanese time in 13:16.38 in his first race as a corporate leaguer. Waseda University duo Rui Suzuki and Yota Mashiko went 6-7 in 13:20.64 and 13:22.87, the 18-year-old Mashiko shaving 0.04 off the U20 NR. In 8th, Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) ran a PB of 13:23.92. 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) continued to struggle after a weak indoor season, finishing 18th of 20 finishers in 13:45.10. 19-year-old Festus Kimorwo (Kurosaki Harima) was under 13:20 in the B-heat too, winning in a 13:19.59 PB. 2 more collegiate men broke 13:30, Daichi Fujita (Chuo Univ.) 8th in 13:28.93 and Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) 9th in 13:29.09. The top 6 in the men's 800 m A-hea...