Elite Field for Oct. 15 Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon

Scheduled to happen in parallel with the MGC Race Paris Olympic marathon trials, the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon has announced the elite fields for its second running Oct. 15. Straight from this spring's Barcelona Half Marathon, Gladys Chepkurui and Charles Langat are the top internationals coming in from abroad at 1:05:46 and 58:53.

Chepkurui's only real competition is Japan-based Dolphine Omare, winner at last year's National Corporate Half Marathon in 1:07:56. Langat has more serious competition from Japan-based Alexander Mutiso, 58:48 at last year's RAK Half among others, and another five in the mid-to-high 59-minute range. Sub-27:20 10000 m runners Evans Keitany, Jonathan Ndiku and Timothy Kibet should also factor in.

Given that the race will happen at the same time as the Olympic marathon trials there aren't a lot of high-level Japanese athletes in the race. The top woman in Mao Kiyota, 1:11:18 at this race last year, with Toyo University's Kazuki Matsuyama the only Japanese man with a current sub-61 time at 1:00:43 from last year.

The para fields are solid, with both the women's and men's races full of Paralympic medalists and national record holders in different categories. Top women include Tsubasa Kina, Wakako Tsuchida and Misato Michishita, with the men's field featuring Tomoki Suzuki, Tsutomu Nagata, Tadashi Horikoshi and Kenya Karasawa among others.

2nd Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon Elite Field

Tokyo, 15 Oct. 2023

complete elite field listing

times listed are best within last 3 years except where noted

Women

Gladys Chepkurui (Kenya) - 1:05:46 (Barcelona 2023)

Dolphine Omare (Kenya/U.S.E.) - 1:07:56 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Hellen Ekalale (Kenya/Toyota Jidoshokki) - 1:09:53 (Gifu Seiryu Half 2023)

Mao Kiyota (Suzuki AC) - 1:11:18 (Tokyo Legacy Half 2022)

Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab Yamaguchi) - 1:12:57 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)

Natsuki Ogawa (Suzuki AC) - 1:15:38 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2022)

Para Women

T54 - Tsubasa Kina (Ryukyu Sports Support) - 48:35 (Hamanasu 2023)

T54 - Wakako Tsuchida (Will Raise) - 48:46 (Hamanasu 2022)

T53 - Kazumi Nakayama (unattached) - 1:04:07

T20 - Ayami Takahashi (Miyagi TFC) - 1:33:15 (Sendai Half 2023)

T12 - Misato Michishita (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:26:58 (Hofu 2019)

T11 - Natsumi Inoguchi (Mizuho Financial Group) - 1:31:41 (Tokyo Legacy 2022)

Men

Alexander Mutiso (Kenya/ND Software) - 58:48 (RAK Half 2022)

Charles Langat (Kenya) - 58:53 (Barcelona 2023)

Benard Kimeli (Kenya/Fujitsu) - 59:32 (Road to Records 2022)

Bedan Karoki (Kenya/Toyota) - 59:37 (Buenos Aires 2023)

Joseph Karanja (Kenya/Aichi Seiko) - 59:48 (Madrid 2021)

Tsegay Kidane (Ethiopia) - 59:49 (Antrim 2023)

Andrew Lorot (Kenya/YKK) - 59:54 (Marugame 2023)

Kazuki Matsuyama (Toyo Univ.) - 1:00:43 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Evans Keitany (Kenya/Toyota Boshoku) - 27:11.88 (Hachioji 2022)

Jonathan Ndiku (Kenya/Logisteed) - 27:12.84 (Nittai Univ. 2022)

Timothy Kibet (Kenya/Makes)- 27:17.41 (Hengelo 2021)

Jackson Kavesa (Kenya/Chuo Hatsujo) - 27:38.50 (Nittai Univ. 2022)

Para Men

T70 - Koichiro Yamanaka (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 1:08:41 (Yokohama 2008)

T54 - Tomoki Suzuki (Toyota) - 38:32 (Oita 2021)

T46 - Tsutomu Nagata (Niigata T&F Assoc.) - 1:10:57 (Beppu Oita 2022)

T20 - Yoshitatsu Hishinuma (Miyagi TFC) - 1:09:21 (National ID Half 2023)

T12 - Tadashi Horikoshi (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 1:08:19 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2013)

T11 - Kenya Karasawa (Subaru) - 1:08:30 (Tokyo Legacy Half 2022)

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

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

Golden Games in Nobeoka Top Results

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