Skip to main content

Wanguru Wins Sprint Finish at Sanyo Women's Road Race

http://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/kmanabu/article/133

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Team Kyudenko's Pauline Kiragu Wanguru won a five-way sprint finish at the 2008 Sanyo Women's Road Race half marathon to win in a PB of 1:10:54. A hilly course, cold temperatures and strong winds in the second half made for an overall tactical race. Five runners remained together with 400 m to go, meaning the race would go to the strongest kicker. Wanguru pulled ahead by a step to beat Team Sysmex's Megumi Seike, who came fresh from winning the Nov. 30 Shanghai Half Marathon, and Second Wind AC newcomer Ruth Wanjiru. Team Tenmaya's Yuka Izumi was 4th in a PB of 1:10:58, with Wanjiru's teammate Akemi Ozaki a short distance behind in 5th.

Second Wind AC head coach Manabu Kawagoe commented that the race was excellent preparation for Ozaki and Wanjiru's planned run in next month's Osaka International Women's Marathon, but that Ozaki was feeling in top condition and would have to be careful with her peaking. Ozaki and Wanjiru are scheduled to leave Dec. 24 for a training camp in Kagoshima Prefecture.

2008 Sanyo Women's Road Race Top Finishers
1. Pauline Kiragu Wanjiru (Team Kyudenko) - 1:10:54 - PB
2. Megumi Seike (Team Sysmex) - 1:10:55
3. Ruth Wanjiru (Second Wind AC) - 1:10:55
4. Yuka Izumi (Team Tenmaya) - 1:10:58 - PB
5. Akemi Ozaki (Second Wind AC) - 1:11:02
6. Yumiko Ando (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 1:11:41

Comments

TokyoRacer said…
Great interview. Some things never change, one of them being the way Japanese runners train. They have never been any good at the 10,000 and they're still not. Getting worse, in fact. But they just don't get it.
This is from an article by Marcie Good on Jeff Schiebler, a Canadian who ran for NEC for a few years about 8 years ago. He ran twice a day; the Japanese ran 3 times a day...and of course he was the best runner on the team.
-- His teammates stick to their program. Recently, they met to discuss whether they could move forward their 5:30 a.m. wake up, because they found they had an extra ten minutes between their morning run and leaving for work. Schiebler, who sleeps in as long as he needs to, stepped in. "I said, 'Hey, do what I do, just scrap the morning training thing.' They said, 'You don't understand. We know that's what you do, and that's fine. But we're Japanese and we're not able to scrap the morning run.' "

Most-Read This Week

Asian Games Preview - Entries, Timetable and Live Results

Back in Japan for the first time in 32 years and representing 60% of the world's population, with more athletes competing across all sports than at the Olympics, the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are already underway. Athletics competition starts tomorrow and runs through Tuesday the 29th. Some of the biggest names on the entry list include: Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage (SRI) - men's javelin throw - 2026 World Ultimate Championships gold and 2026 Diamond League champion Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) - women's javelin throw - 2026 World Ultimate Championships and 2024 Paris Olympics gold Birhanu Balew (BRN) - men's 5000 m/10000 m - 2026 Diamond League 5000 m champion Sanghyeok Woo (KOR) - men's high jump - 2025 Tokyo World Championships silver Hayato Katsuki (JPN) - men's marathon race walk - 2025 Tokyo World Championships bronze Abderrahman Samba (QAT) - men's 400 mH - 2025 Tokyo World Championships bronze Jiale Zhang (CHN) - women's hammer throw - 2025 Tokyo W...

Endo, Nishikawa and Yamakawa Announce Corporate Team Changes

The SG Holdings men's corporate team announced on Oct. 1 that long-distance athletes Hyuga Endo and Yuichiro Nishikawa have joined its roster after leaving the Sumitomo Denko team. Endo, 28, won the Junior Olympics 3000 m while at Koriyama Nishi J.H.S. before going on to Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. where he was the the top Japanese placer in the 5000 m at the National High School Championships 2 years in a row. After graduating from Gakuho Ishikawa he joined the Sumitomo Denko team, winning the National Championships 5000 m in 2021. He won gold at the 2023 Asian Championships and represented Japan at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. "I will give everything I have as part of the team and work hard toward helping it win the New Year Ekiden," he said of his new environment. Of his personal goals he said, "I want to focus on the 5000 m and reach new levels to compete internationally." Nishikawa, 28, was a member of Tokai University 's winning teams at the H...

2 Athletes Provisionally Suspended After Positive Drug Tests at Asian Games

The International Testing Agency announced on Oct. 2 that provisional suspensions have been imposed on two athletes, Kazakhstan's Aiana Bolatbekkyzy in track and field, and Tajikistan's Issamjon Sharifov in tennis, after they tested positive for prohibited substances at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Aichi. Bolatbekkyzy, 19, tested positive for the steroid drostanolone in a sample collected during an in-competition test at the Games. A diuretic drug was found in the sample collected from Sharifov, 23. source article: https://www.sanspo.com/article/20261002-X4FJLT5MMZKFND6WXPOESAKETQ/ translated by Brett Larner