Skip to main content

Mara Yamauchi and Takashi Ota Win Ome 30 km Road Race

by Brett Larner

Mara Yamauchi (GBR) continued her return from the injuries that kept her out of last summer's World Championships and the fall marathon season win a 1:43:24 win at the classic 2010 Ome 30 km Road Race in the mountains west of Tokyo on Feb. 21. Yamauchi pulled away from veteran Hiromi Ominami (Team Toyota Shatai) just before 15 km and steadily lengthened her lead over the hills in the middle section of the course. Up by 48 seconds at 25 km, Yamauchi ran 17:30 for the final 5 km to Ominami's 17:07, finally winning by a margin of just 25 seconds. Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind A.C.) ran most of the race in 4th place behind little-known Saori Makishima (Canon A.C. Kyushu) but had a strong last 5 km to take 3rd. Makishima went on to DNF. Yamauchi's win adds to her three titles in Ome's 10 km over the last four years.

The men's 30 km was a blowout as 2006 Ome winner Takashi Ota (Team Konica Minolta) frontran his way to a repeat victory in 1:31:54. With at least three of the other invited athletes sitting the race out, nobody even attempted to go with Ota. Four runners ran together in a chase pack behind Ota, among them American Patrick Rizzo. The pack stayed together through 25 km but when the pace accelerated on the flat final 5 km Yusuke Kitaoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) emerged to take 2nd in 1:34:36. Rizzo was just 9 seconds back in 1:34:45. Down by one minute at 25 km, Kenji Onaka (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) had a strong finish as he overtook Ryotaro Nitta (Team Konica Minolta) for 5th.

In the women's 10 km, Yuko Machida (Team Nihon ChemiCon) took her first win after two runner-up placings, outrunning a pack of four to finish in 33:40. Eisuke Shioda (Kugayama H.S.) won the men's 10 km in 30:50.

2010 Ome 30 km - Top Finishers
click here for complete results
Women
1. Mara Yamauchi (GBR) - 1:43:24
2. Hiromi Ominami (Team Toyota Shatai) - 1:43:49
3. Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind A.C.) - 1:49:14
4. Mizuho Kishi (Team Yamada Denki) - 1:52:15
5. Chie Asami (Hachioji H.S.) - 2:01:34

Men
1. Takashi Ota (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:31:54
2. Yusuke Kataoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:34:36
3. Patrick Rizzo (U.S.A.) - 1:34:45
4. Koji Sato (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) - 1:35:07
5. Kenji Onaka (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) - 1:35:38

10 km - Top Finishers
Women
1. Yuko Machida (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 33:40
2. Megumi Kanetomo (Team Yamada Denki) - 33:52
3. Misato Yamaguchi (Team Yamada Denki) - 33:55

Men
1. Eisuke Shioda (Kugayama H.S.) - 30:50
2. Akira Kasahara (Takuichi H.S.) - 31:00
3. Toshiya Suzuki (Takuichi H.S.) - 31:04

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
Why would they run this race instead of next week's Tokyo Marathon?
February 22, 2010 at 4:14 PM
Brett Larner said…
It's kind of a historic race and a good tune-up for marathons later in the spring. It's very similar to the first ~30km of the Boston course in reverse, so many Japanese runners planning to run there, such as last year's women's winner, do Ome as practice.
February 22, 2010 at 4:54 PM
Simon Phillips said…
Nice to see Mara coming into good shape for London.
February 22, 2010 at 7:28 PM
Shane Boulton said…
Many of the ancient construction practices still apply today. Our ancestors came up with good ides, we just added the technology on top.
Term Paper
September 18, 2010 at 9:14 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...
1 comment
Read more

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."...
12 comments
Read more

Suzuki and Hironaka Win 10000 m National Titles - Kanakuri Memorial Meet Highlights

Former Komazawa University captain Mebuki Suzuki (Toyota) and 3-time 10000 m national champion Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) ran through rain that started just before the day's last two events to win the 10000 m national titles Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanakuri Memorial meet. With Kenyan pacers and Wavelight in action both races were steady time trials that ground the fields down to a few legit contenders. In the men's race that was Suzuki, 2024 national champ Jun Kasai (Asahi Kasei) and Suzuki's teammate Yamato Yoshii . Yoshii made an early move to break away, but Suzuki and Kasai reeled him back in by 7200. At 9000 m the pace had slowed to 24:56, on track for 27:42, but Suzuki attacked with a 61-second lap from 9000 to 9400, a pace he held to drop a 2:32 last 1000 m for the win in 27:28.82. Kasai was next in 27:33.52 and Yoshii 3rd in a 27:36.33 PB with the top 8 all breaking 28 minutes. The women's race was down to just 2021, 2022 and 2023 national champion Hir...
1 comment
Read more