Chepngetich Runs Fastest-Ever Women's Half Marathon on Japanese Soil at Gifu Seiryu Half

Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich dominated the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon's 9th edition, running the fastest-ever women's half marathon on Japanese soil to win in 1:06:06. Taking advantage of cooler than usual conditions Chepngetich was out at world record pace from the gun, accompanied early on by fellow Kenyans Joan Chelimo Melly and Evaline Chirchir but alone by 10 km and leading by 6 seconds over Melly in 30:45.

The second half hit her hard, but Chepngetich had no trouble holding on well enough to take 1:38 off the 1:07:44 course record set two years ago by world record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei. Melly, Chirchir and 4th-placer Mimi Belete (Bahrain) all went under 1:08:20, with Miyuki Uehara (Daiichi Seimei) taking the top Japanese spot at 6th in 1:11:03.

The men's race was more conservative, with a lead pack of ten including last year's winner Nicholas Kosimbei (Kenya/Toyota), 2014 winner Bedan Karoki (Kenya/DeNA) and national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) going out near 1:00:30 pace. By 15 km that had shaken down to just Karoki and Amos Kurgat (Kenya/Chudenko), Kurgat breaking free over the final 5 km to win in 1:00:34. Karoki was next in 1:01:07, with Shitara finishing 5th as the top Japanese in 1:01:36 just ahead of Kosimbei.

9th Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon

Gifu, 4/28/19
complete results and splits

Women
1. Ruth Chepngetich (Kenya) - 1:06:06 - CR, ACR
2. Joan Chelimo Melly (Kenya) - 1:08:01
3. Evaline Chirchir (Kenya) - 1:08:07
4. Mimi Belete (Bahrain) - 1:08:16
5. Gotytom Gebreslase (Ethiopia) - 1:10:16
6. Miyuki Uehara (Japan/Daiichi Seimei) - 1:11:03
7. Rose Chelimo (Bahrain) - 1:12:58
8. Ana Dulce Felix (Portugal) - 1:14:14
9. Yuko Mizuguchi (Japan/Takayama T&F Assoc.) - 1:15:40
10. Marie Imada (Japan/Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:16:22

Men
1. Amos Kurgat (Kenya/Chudenko) - 1:00:34
2. Bedan Karoki (Kenya/DeNA) - 1:01:07
3. Abraham Kipyatich (Kenya/Asahi Kasei) - 1:01:30
4. Silas Kingori (Kenya/SGH Group) - 1:01:31
5. Yuta Shitara (Japan/Honda) - 1:01:36
6. Nicholas Kosimbei (Kenya/Toyota) - 1:01:43
7. Jonathan Ndiku (Kenya/Hitachi Butsuryu) - 1:01:55
8. Ezekiel Cheboitibin (Kenya/Sunbelx) - 1:02:29
9. Patrick Muendo Mwaka (Kenya/Aisan Kogyo) - 1:02:58
10. Tsubasa Hayakawa (Japan/Toyota) - 1:03:21

˙© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges. Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

Matsumoto Marathon Canceled After Fraudulently Hiding Past Financial Losses

On Apr. 23 the city government of Matsumoto, Nagano announced that it was canceling this fall's Matsumoto Marathon after discovering accounting fraud in the event's operation. "We are going to conduct a review of how the race has been conducted up to now," a statement from the city read. Mayor Yoshinao Gaun apologized at a press conference, saying, "We sincerely apologize for letting down everyone involved in putting the event together." The Matsumoto Marathon is run by an executive committee made up of representatives from the city, the Matsumoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Shinano Mainichi Newspaper, and the relevant track and field associations. According to city officials, financial records for the November, 2023 edition of the race were fraudulently manipulated. Income from participants' entry fees was lower than expected, and although the city managed to get the Shinano Mainichi, to which it had outsourced overall event management, to r...

10 Meet Records and a National Record at Hyogo Relay Carnival

The grand prix distance events were absent from the program this year at the 73rd Hyogo Relay Carnival , with the top performances in the women's 5000 m and men's 10000 m Asics Challenge races going to steepler Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) in 15:49.48 and Japan-based Kenyan Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) in 28:12.42. But there were a lot of new meet records, and one national record. Ryosuke Kusumi (Shiga) set a T37-class NR of 58.35 m in the para men's 400 m. Kairi Ikeno (Suma Gakuen H.S.) came less than 2 seconds short of a new high school record in the women's 2000 m , beating her own MR from last year by over 3 seconds in 5:55.36, almost 17 seconds ahead of 2nd place. The top 5 all broke or tied the men's high jump meet record, with both Yuto Seko (FAAS) and Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) clearing 2.25 m and Takashi Eto (Kobe Digital Labo), Chao-Hsuan Fu (Taiwan) and Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) clearing 2.20 m. Yuki Hashioka (Fujitsu) won the men...

japan running news

Search This Blog