Last year Margaret Akidor ran a 2-minute PB of 1:09:29 to win the Sanyo Ladies Road Race half marathon. She's back Sunday to try to make it 3 in a row, but she's got serious competition from Pauline Kamulu, 1:07:22 in Marugame last year, and last year's 10 km CR breaker Agnes Mwikali, making her debut here. 31:17.40 runner Tabitha Njeri is also debuting. The domestic field is relatively weak, with no current sub-1:10 Japanese women and Rinka Hida topping the list at 1:10:10.
2nd and 3rd in the 10 km last year, Janet Nyiva and Kaede Kawamura are sticking to the shorter race again this year, and in place of Mwikali they've got Naomi Muthoni, 31:15 in Sanyo 3 years ago, to deal with. Sub-15 runner Susan Kamotho is also debuting.
Sanyo Ladies Road Race
Okayama, 15 Dec. 2024
times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted
Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) - 1:07:22 (Marugame Half 2023)
Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) - 1:09:29 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2023)
Rinka Hida (Daiichi Seimei) - 1:10:10 (Osaka Half 2023)
Chiharu Suzuki (Hitachi) - 1:10:12 (Gold Coast Half 2023)
Mizuki Nishimura (Tenmaya) - 1:10:22 (Nat'l Corporate Half 2024)
Yukari Nagatomo (Memolead) - 1:10:34 (Nat'l Corporate Half 2024)
Shiori Yoshizono (Tenmaya) - 1:10:48 (Nat'l Corporate Half 2023)
Hikaru Kitagawa (Univ. Ent.) - 1:10:50 (Matsue Ladies Half 2023)
Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) - 1:10:56 (Osaka Half 2024)
Ayano Ikemitsu (Kagoshima Ginko) - 1:10:57 (Matsue Ladies Half 2023)
Mio Kuroda (Kyocera) - 1:11:02 (Osaka Half 2024)
Kotomi Tsubokura (Wacoal) - 1:11:02 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)
Yuri Mitsune (18 Ginko) - 1:11:07 (Osaka Half 2024)
Madoka Nakano (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:11:18 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)
Hibiki Sakuragawa (Daiichi Seimei) - 1:11:28 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2023)
Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) - 31:06.89 (10000 m) - debut
Tabitha Njeri (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 31:17.40 (10000 m) - debut
10 km
Naomi Muthoni (Univ. Ent.) - 31:15 (Sanyo Ladies 10 km 2021)
Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) - 31:16.01 (10000 m)
Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) - 31:54.73 (10000 m)
Martha Mokaya (Canon) - 32:07.68 (10000 m)
Sakiho Tsutsui (Univ. Ent.) - 32:25.92 (10000 m)
Ayari Harada (Daiichi Seimei) - 32:39.71 (10000 m)
Kanako Takemoto (Daihatsu) - 32:43.20 (10000 m)
Miu Yagi (Iwatani Sangyo) - 32:44.62 (10000 m)
Mitsu Ozaki (Sysmex) - 32:52 (Nat'l Corporate 10 km 2024)
Susan Kamotho (Yamada Holdings) - 14:59.63 (5000 m) - debut
Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) - 15:47.32 - debut
© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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