Skip to main content

Nakamori Looks For Second Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Win

by Brett Larner

2007 winner Kazuya Nakamori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) returns to defend his title as the favorite in the 2008 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon field. Hofu is part of Japan's elite men's marathon circuit. A 2nd-tier competition following shortly after the 1st-tier Fukuoka International Marathon, Hofu is a development race for young marathoners but has nevertheless attracted the likes of Ethiopian greats Turbo Tumo and Hailu Neggusie, the latter of whom set the course record of 2:08:16 in a battle against future World Championships and Olympic marathon team member Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) in 2002.

Nakamori, who races sockless, won last year's Hofu in 2:15:40 after overtaking and then dropping Mitsuru Irifune (Team Kanebo) in the final kilometers despite severe blistering on his feet. His strongest competition includes Batochir Serod (Mongolia), who set his PB of 2:14:15 earlier this year in Beijing, along with Japanese runners Manabu Nishida (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) and Tomohiro Minami (Team Aisan).

Nakamori's biggest challenger may turn out to be Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku), a two-time anchor for dominant Hakone Ekiden force Komazawa University. Kasuya is running Hofu as his marathon debut, but earlier in the year he ran 1:30:40 to take 4th in the Kumanichi 30 km Road Race, just 7 seconds behind the winner. He clearly has the potential for an excellent showing.

The 2008 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon will be held on Dec. 21 at 12:02 p.m. TV broadcast is limited to the Yamaguchi local area but the race website will post live 5 km splits here. A complete listing of past winners and the top 20 times run in Hofu is available here. 2008 Osaka International Women's Marathon winner Mara Yamauchi (U.K.) will appear in the women's 10 km race as a guest runner.

2008 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite Field and PB Details
click here for athlete photos and bios

Jae-Young Hyung (South Korea) - 2:10:37 (Hofu 1999)
Kazuya Nakamori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:12:08 (Nobeoka 2006)
Ryo Murasato (Team Honda Kumamoto) - 2:13:15 (Beppu-Oita 2001)
Wan-Sun Chi (China) - 2:13:39 (Seoul 2004)
Kentaro Ito (Team Kyowa Hakko Bio) - 2:13:44 (Hofu 2001)
Akinori Shibutani (Team Yanagawa Seiki) - 2:13:51 (Beppu-Oita 2000)
Batochir Serod (Mongolia) - 2:14:15 (Beijing 2008)
Manabu Nishida (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:15:22 (Biwako 2006)
Tomohiro Minami (Team Aisan) - 2:15:55 (Nobeoka 2007)
Yongjian Ou (China) - 2:16:47 (Beijing 2007)
Myon-Guk An (South Korea) - 2:17:15 (Seoul 2001)
Kachi-Tsu Chao (Taiwan) - 2:17:19 (Taipei 2006)
Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku) - debut

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that  Sis
Post a Comment
Read more

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n
1 comment
Read more

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

  In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el
Post a Comment
Read more