Skip to main content

Takaoka Wins Himejijo 10 Miler (updated)

http://osaka.nikkansports.com/news/f-on-tp2-20080211-319855.html
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20080211030.html
http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/0000834508.shtml

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Japanese men's national marathon record holder Toshinari Takaoka (Team Kanebo) won the Himejijo 10 Mile Road Race in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture on Feb. 11, running a time of 47:40. Takaoka accelerated with 1.5 km to go, passing Takashi Toyota (Team Sanyo Tokusho Seiko) with 1 km left to take the lead for good. Kenji Noguchi (Team Shikoku Denryoku) took 2nd in 47:44, with Toyota 1 second back in 3rd. The 6th place finisher in last summer's Osaka World Championships marathon, Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon), was 4th in 47:46.

"It's been a long time since I won something," Takaoka smiled after the race. He was scheduled to run last weekend's Ome Marathon 30 km road race until the race was cancelled due to heavy snow, but was able to negotiate a last-minute entry for Himejijo. At last December's Fukuoka International Marathon Takaoka finished a disappointing 10th and did not qualify for the Beijing Olympics. "This win has brought my confidence back," a happy Takaoka commented during his victory interview. "I can go back to practicing confidently and then go on to my next marathon. Beijing is impossible. 4 years from now will also be impossible. But I still want to taste both the difficulty and the attraction of the marathon." In the fast-approaching spring, Takaoka will run an overseas marathon free of pressure and free to do as he pleases.

Kotaro Fujioka (Josuikan H.S., Hiroshima) won the high school boys' division in 51:38. The remaining 3 divisions, each 5 km in length, all saw strong performances. Yayoi Nishiyama (Team Wacoal, Suma Gakuen H.S.) won the 15+ women's class in 16:18, while Yoshitaka Ogawa (Tatsuno Nishi J.H.S.) won the junior high school boys' category in 15:24 and Risa Yokoe (Inami Kita J.H.S.) won the junior high schools girls' division in 16:55.

Himejijo 10 Mile Road Race Results
1. Toshinari Takaoka (Team Kanebo): 47:40
2. Kenji Noguchi (Team Shikoku Denryoku): 47:44
3. Takashi Toyota (Team Sanyo Tokusho Seiko): 47:45
4. Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon): 47:46
5. Kazuo Ietani (Team Sanyo Tokusho Seiko): 47:48
6. J. Young (U.K.): 47:49
7. Toshiya Katayama (Team NTT Nishi Nihon): 47:54
8. Shuichi Fujii (Team Nissin Shokuhin): 47:58
9. Sohei Wada (Team Shikoku Denryoku): 48:01
10. Toshihiro Iwasa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku): 48:01

Translator's note: Could Takaoka be running Boston or London? Having selected the hilly Ome 30 km as his tuneup race, it looks possible that Takaoka may be considering Boston. It would certainly make for a memorable race to see the aging national record holder turn up and have one more good run.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...
2 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview and Streaming (updated)

Japan's winter marathon season of 6 major races in 7-straight weekends wraps up Sunday with the world's largest women-only marathon, the Nagoya Women's Marathon . The weather is looking pretty good, 6˚ at the start rising to 10˚ by the finish and sunny skies, but a moderate 7 m/s NW wind means a headwind finish that might impact the potential for some fast times. Official streaming kicks off at 9:00 a.m. local time. Live results will be here . Sheila Chepkirui won last year in 2:20:40, breaking away from Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba at 30 km and hanging on for the win. Sato negative split a 2:20:59 PB for 2nd, Chumba fading to 3rd in 2:21:36. All 3 are back this time, but they have pretty serious competition from Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Selly Chepyego Kaptich , 2:20:03 in Barcelona 2023. And of course, Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda . Maeda ran 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024 to make the Paris Oly...
Post a Comment
Read more

16 Women and 26 Men on the Current Olympic Trials Qualifier List

Last weekend's Nagoya Women's Marathon and the Tokyo Marathon the weekend before brought the main part of the first year of qualification for the Marathon Grand Championship Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials to be held in Nagoya in October, 2027, to an end. There are still a few races like the Nagano Marathon and overseas World Athletics platinum label races this season where people might qualify, but for the most part we're not likely to see many new additions until August's Hokkaido Marathon, where the qualifying period opened last year. As of right now 16 women and 26 men have qualified, although the first woman to make the cut, Ai Hosoda , announced that she was retiring after Tokyo earlier this month. Out of the 16 women to have qualified so far, Mikuni Yada is the fastest with her 2:19:57 debut at Osaka Women's in January. Including Hosoda that makes 2 qualifiers for the Edion corporate team, but Daihatsu has the biggest share of the field so ...
Post a Comment
Read more