Inoue Runs Second-Fastest Time Ever at Tamana Half in Tuneup for Boston

While many of the other main contenders for September’s MGC Race, Japan’s new 2020 Olympic trials marathon, were focused on trying to run super fast times at the Tokyo Marathon, 2018 Asian Games gold medalist Hiroto Inoue (MHPS) did his last major tuneup for next month’s Boston Marathon at the 70th edition of Kumamoto’s Kanaguri Hai Tamana Half Marathon.

Throughout the race Inoue went head-to-head with 2018 winner Patrick Muendo Mwaka (Aisan Kogyo) before finally dropping him in the final kilometers. At 1:02:21 Mwaka was more than 30 seconds up on his winning time from last year, but Inoue surged away from him to win in 1:02:12, his best half marathon time in four years and the second-fastest winning time in Tamana’s 70-year history. Only five people had ever broken 63 minutes at Tamana previously, but this year the top eight all did it, 8th-placer Shunsuke Kanbe (Komazawa Univ.) running a PB 1:02:56. Boston-bound Shizuoka Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov’t) was over a minute and a half behind Inoue in 1:03:46 for 11th.

3rd in last month’s National Corporate 10 km Championships, Miku Daido (Iwatani Sangyo) won the women’s 10 km in 33:52 in a photo finish with teammate Nami Aoki and just a step ahead of Minaru Okamoto (Shiseido). Kenyan Victor Kimosop (Fukuoka Daiichi H.S.) won the high school boys’ 10 km in 29:40, with teammates Koki Sato and Hitoshi Yuasa (both Miyazaki Nihon Prep H.S.) 2nd and 3rd in 29:51 and 29:57.

70th Kanaguri Hai Tamana Half Marathon

Tamana, Kumamoto, 3/3/19
complete results

Men’s Half Marathon
1. Hiroto Inoue (MHPS) – 1:02:12
2. Patrick Muendo Mwaka (Aisan Kogyo) – 1:02:21
3. Naoya Takahashi (Yasukawa Denki) – 1:02:42
4. Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda) – 1:02:44
5. Yuki Arimura (Asahi Kasei) – 1:02:44
6. Kento Otsu (Toyota Kyushu) – 1:02:45
7. Yuki Matsumura (Honda) – 1:02:49
8. Shunsuke Kanbe (Komazawa Univ.) – 1:02:56 - PB
9. Shunya Nomura (Yasukawa Denki) – 1:03:23
10. Kiyoshi Koga (Yasukawa Denki) – 1:03:43

Women’s 10 km
1. Miku Daido (Iwatani Sangyo) – 33:52
2. Nanami Aoki (Iwatani Sangyo) – 33:52
3. Minaru Okamoto (Shiseido) – 33:53
4. Shino Hasegawa (Wacoal) – 33:55
5. Wakana Itsuki (Kyudenko) – 34:04

High School Boys’ 10 km
1. Victor Kimosop (Fukuoka Daiichi H.S.) – 29:40
2. Koki Sato (Miyazaki Nihon Prep H.S.) – 29:51
3. Hitoshi Yuasa (Miyazaki Nihon Prep H.S.) – 29:57

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview and Streaming (updated)

Japan's winter marathon season of 6 major races in 7-straight weekends wraps up Sunday with the world's largest women-only marathon, the Nagoya Women's Marathon . The weather is looking pretty good, 6˚ at the start rising to 10˚ by the finish and sunny skies, but a moderate 7 m/s NW wind means a headwind finish that might impact the potential for some fast times. Official streaming kicks off at 9:00 a.m. local time. Live results will be here . Sheila Chepkirui won last year in 2:20:40, breaking away from Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba at 30 km and hanging on for the win. Sato negative split a 2:20:59 PB for 2nd, Chumba fading to 3rd in 2:21:36. All 3 are back this time, but they have pretty serious competition from Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Selly Chepyego Kaptich , 2:20:03 in Barcelona 2023. And of course, Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda . Maeda ran 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024 to make the Paris Oly...

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...

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