Sanyo Ladies Road Race Entry Lists

Japan's last major non-ekiden road race of the year happens Sunday in Okayama at the Sanyo Ladies Road Race half marathon and 10 km. Four women in the half marathon, Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.), Yuka Ando (Wacoal), Desta Burka (Denso) and Joanne Kipkemoi (Kyudenko) have recent sub-1:10 times, Omare leading the way with a 1:07:56 from her win at last year's National Corporate Half Marathon. Ando isn't far behind with a 1:08:13 in the same race, but at the Queens Ekiden three weeks ago she showed signs of heavy fatigue from October's Olympic marathon trials. Track specialist Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) is also in the race, only 1:11:19 in Sanyo last year but with potential to go a lot better.

Eva Cherono (Toto) is the class of the 10 km field with a 30:33 road best from Lens two years ago. Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) and Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) were both under 31:30 minutes in Sanyo in 2021, with Misaki Hayashida (Kyudenko) and Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) fresh off sub-32 minute track PBs at last weekend's 10000 m National Championships in Tokyo.

RSK will be broadcasting Sanyo live regionally at 9:55 a.m. local time. RSK Radio's broadcast will be available here.

42nd Sanyo Ladies Road Race

Entry List Highlights

Okayama, 17 Dec. 2023

complete entry lists

times listed are athletes' best within last 3 years except where noted

Half Marathon

Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.) - 1:07:56 (National Corporate Half 2022)

Yuka Ando (Wacoal) - 1:08:13 (National Corporate Half 2022)

Desta Burka (Denso) - 1:09:31 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)

Joanne Kipkemoi (Kyudenko) - 1:09:38 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)

Chiharu Ikeda (Hitachi) - 1:10:12 (Gold Coast 2023)

Martha Mokaya (Canon) - 1:10:18 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)

Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) - 1:10:18 (National Corporate Half 2021)

Yuma Adachi (Kyocera) - 1:10:21 (Osaka Half 2022)

Saya Nishitani (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:10:38 (National Corporate Half 2021)

Kotomi Tsubokura (Wacoal) - 1:11:02 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)

Yuri Karasawa (Kyudenko) - 1:11:07 (National Corporate Half 2023)

Honoka Tanaike (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:11:13 (National Corporate Half 2022)

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

Madoka Nakano (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:11:18 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)

Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) - 1:11:19 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2022)

Mizuki Tanimoto (Tenmaya) - 1:11:48 (Marugame Half 2023)

10 km

Eva Cherono (Toto) - 30:33 (Lens 2021)

Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) - 31:11 (Sanyo Ladies 10 km 2021)

Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) - 31:21 (Sanyo Ladies 10 km 2021)

Misaki Hayashida (Kyudenko) - 31:50.91 (track, Tokyo 2023)

Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) - 31:54.73 (track, Tokyo 2023)

Erina Yasui (Iwatani Sangyo) - 32:40.01 (track, Kobe 2023)

Kanako Takemoto (Daihatsu) - 32:43.20 (track, Kyoto 2021)

Judy Jepngetich (Shiseido) - 33:04.20 (track, Nairobi 2023)

Esther Muthoni (Nitori) - 33:10 (Sanyo Ladies 10 km 2021)

Mirai Waku (Universal Entertainment) - 33:23.57 (track, Kumagaya 2021)

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Nat'l University Ekiden Updates Here

Looks like I just went over my update limit on Twitter - sorry, it's the first time I've tried to use it for this. I'll look for another option next time. In the meantime I'll add updates to the comments below. Not sure if that has a max too but I guess we'll find out. Update: Part one of the Nationals commentary can be found here .

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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