Karemi and Matsuda Break Okukuma Course Record - Weekend Half Marathon Roundup

For the second year in a row Japan-based Kenyan Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu) broke the course record at Kumamoto's Okukuma Half Marathon. Coached by 1992 Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita, Karemi took 27 seconds off his winning time last year to win by over a minute in 1:01:21. Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) was a distant 2nd in 1:02:40, with Karemi's teammate Yuki Oshikawa (Toyota Kyushu) taking the top Japanese spot at 3rd in 1:03:13. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) was 9th in 1:04:04 a week after running the Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon.

In the women's race, Anna Matsuda (Kyocera), coached by former men's half marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato, took 26 seconds off the course record to win in 1:13:10. Not far off, Kotomi Tsubokura (Wacoal) was a clear 2nd in 1:03:27 with Maki Saito (Higo Ginko) improving on her 10th-place finish last year to take 3rd in 1:14:46.

Also Sunday, up in Tokyo the Akabane Half Marathon celebrated its tenth running with a new men's course record. Yuki Kuroda (Comody Iida) became the first man to break 64 minutes on the Akabane course as he led the top three under the old course record set last year to win in 1:03:33. Last year's women's winner Tomomi Sawahata (Sawahatters) won again, 10 seconds off her 2018 mark in 1:15:12.

7th Okukuma Half Marathon

Kumagun, Kumamoto, 1/20/19
complete results

Men
1. Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:01:21 - CR
2. Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:02:40
3. Yuki Oshikawa (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:13
4. Tomoya Nishi (Komori Corp.) - 1:03:18
5. Kazuhiro Kuga (Fujitsu) - 1:03:38
6. Masanori Sumida (Aichi Seiko) - 1:03:40
7. Ryunosuke Hayashi (SGH Group) - 1:03:41
8. Takeru Tanoue (Toyo University) - 1:03:45
9. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:04:04
10. Nobuyuki Matsumoto (Aisan Kogyo) - 1:04:14

Women
1. Anna Matsuda (Kyocera) - 1:13:10 - CR
2. Kotomi Tsubokura (Wacoal) - 1:13:27
3. Maki Saito (Higo Ginko) - 1:14:46
4. Sachihio Suzuki (Nittai Unviersity) - 1:14:59
5. Ayami Hirano (Nittai University) - 1:15:27
6. Aoi Shiozaki (Meijo University) - 1:15:32
7. Mirai Kamoshida (Meijo University) - 1:16:44
8. Sakura Kawakami (Noritz) - 1:17:13
9. Sena Komori (Meijo University) - 1:17:38
10. Kikuyo Tsuzaki (Noritz) - 1:17:51

10th Akabane Half Marathon

Akabane, Tokyo, 1/20/19
complete results

Men
1. Yuki Kuroda (Comody Iida) - 1:03:33 - CR
2. Fuma Nakamura (Teikyo University) - 1:03:45
3. Masahiro Kamidoi (Asia University) - 1:04:15
4. Shun Yoshizato (Surugadai University) - 1:04:23
5. Shuhei Mita (Sunbelx) - 1:04:54

Women
1. Tomomi Sawahata (Sawahatters) - 1:15:12

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Goshima and Kasai Win 10000 m National Titles, Maeda Breaks U20 Asian Record

Rino Goshima and Jun Kasai stepped up with PBs to win the 2024 National Championships 10000 m titles Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. In the women's race, Goshima, 4th in last December's 2023 National Championships 10000 m, went out front from the start with Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich pacing and 2023 3rd-placer Haruka Kokai in tow. Things were never on track to hit the 30:40.00 Paris Olympics standard, but except for a brief dip to 3:08 at 7000 m Goshima held steady at 3:05 to 3:06/km even as Kokai and Jepngetich fell off. With blood dripping from her left knee after getting spiked by Jepngetich, Goshima closed in 3:03 to take 5 seconds off her best from December's Nationals and win in 30:53.31, moving up to all-time Japanese #6. Jepngetich also PBd at 31:09.42 without counting in the standings, with Kokai 2nd in 31:10.53 and Kazuna Kanetomo 3rd in a PB 31:59.29. The runner-up last time, Yuka Takashima was last in 33:33.27. The men's race went out in a

10000 m National Championships Preview

Less than five months since the 2023 10000 m National Championships went down at the 2021 Olympic stadium in Tokyo, the 2024 edition happens Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium, with NHK broadcasting it live starting at 19:25 local time. Doubling up on Nationals like this lets Japanese athletes double dip on placing points to try to get into the Paris Olympics on rankings. But between the number of people who've hit the 30:40.00 women's standard and 27:00.00 men's standard and the lopsided eight spots given away to top placers at World XC, there are only four women's spots and three men's available via rankings. Of those, three of the four women's spots and two of the three men's spots are currently occupied by top placers at December's 2023 Nationals, Ririka Hironaka , Haruka Kokai and Rino Goshima for women and Ren Tazawa and Tomoki Ota for men. The 2023 Nationals did get close to the standards, with Hironaka leading the top four women under

Golden Games in Nobeoka Top Results

For everyone not running yesterday's 10000 m National Championships , where the Asahi Kasei corporate team dominated the men's race with four out of four men sub-28 including winner Jun Kasai , 27:17.46, the grand dame of Japan's long distance time trial circuit was happening on AK's home ground in Miyazaki at the Golden Games in Nobeoka . Not including kids' races, a total of 74 women and 227 men ran in 14 heats of 5000 m, with a packed-in crowd of fans lining the track beating on metal sponsor boards with batons. It's a pretty awesome meet, and memorable performances included: National champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. standout Caroline Kariba continued to kill it in the second month of her corporate league career, winning the 5000 m A-heat in 15:00.95 in a race where 3 out of the top 4 including her ran PBs. National champion Meijo University seemed flat at this point in the season, with none of its people under 16 minutes and star Nanase Tanimoto leading

japan running news

Search This Blog