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MGC Race Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier - Kentaro Nakamoto

Kentaro Nakamoto

age: 36
sponsor: Yasukawa Denki
graduated from: Nishiichi H.S., Takushoku University

best time inside MGC window: 
2:11:34, 2nd, 2019 Krakow Marathon

PB: 2:08:35, 2nd, 2013 Beppu-Oita Marathon

other PBs:
5000 m: 14:04.31 (2011) 10000 m: 28:54.59 (2012) half marathon: 1:02:12 (2018)

marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019):
2nd, 2019 Krakow Marathon, 2:11:34
DNF, 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon
5th, 2018 Hokkaido Marathon, 2:12:54
DNS, 2018 Boston Marathon
10th, 2017 London World Championships Marathon, 2:12:41

other major results:
20th, 2019 Hakodate Half Marathon, 1:04:32
11th, 2019 Sendai International Half Marathon, 1:03:27
10th, 2019 New Year Ekiden Fifth Stage (15.8 km), 47:11
2nd, 2018 Osaka Half Marathon, 1:02:12 – PB
1st, 2017 Beppu-Oita Marathon, 2:09:32
5th, 2013 Moscow World Championships Marathon, 2:10:50
2nd, 2013 Beppu-Oita Marathon, 2:08:35 – PB
6th, 2012 London Olympics Marathon, 2:11:16
4th, 2012 Lake Biwa Marathon, 2:08:53
9th, 2011 Daegu World Championships Marathon, 2:13:10
4th, 2011 Lake Biwa Marathon, 2:09:31

Nakamoto is Japan’s best championships marathoner of modern times, probably ever, with top 10 finishes in three world championships and the 2012 London Olympics. Now 36, he’s the oldest man to qualify for the MGC Race. Could he do it again? It’s a long shot given where he is in his career, but Nakamoto has proven himself in all weather conditions hot and cold and in the pressure of a high-stakes championship, so it’d be a mistake to complete count him out.

Nakamoto started off 2018 with a surprising 1:02:12 PB at the Osaka Half Marathon, but a stress fracture right before the Boston Marathon knocked him out of a tough conditions race he could have won. Bouncing back from that he qualified for the MGC Race with only a 2:12:54 for 5th at last summer’s Hokkaido Marathon, then DNFed in Fukuoka and missed the Olympic standard by 4 seconds with a 2:11:34 for 2nd in Krakow in the spring. His main results since Krakow have been a decent 1:03:27 for 11th at May’s Sendai Half Marathon and a 1:04:32 for 20th at July’s hot and sunny Hakodate Half Marathon. Like bottom-ranked man Tomohiro Tanigawa he graduated from Takushoku University, where he was roommates with future London Olympics teammate Arata Fujiwara.

Next profile: Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku).

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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