Skip to main content

Shimoju Wins Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon

by Brett Larner

2008 Kumanichi 30 km winner Masaki Shimoju (Team Konica Minolta) continues to edge upward in distance, taking a win at the 48th Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon on Feb. 14. Traditionally a development race for younger runners, this year Nobeoka stayed in character as first-timers took 7 of the top 10 places with relatively inexperienced men clocking PBs for the top 3 spots.

Shimoju ran the first 30 km tight in the first pack. When pacemaker Tomoyuki Sato (Team Asahi Kasei) dropped out at 30 km after maintaining a steady pace of 3:07/km there were still six men in the lead pack. Shimoju immediately went into the lead, but it wasn't that he picked up the pace so much as that everyone else fell away. First-timer Norihiro Nomiya (Team Toyota) initially went with him but by 40 km was a minute behind. Shimoju finished hard to win easily in a new PB of 2:12:18 with a 1:34 margin of victory. Nomiya fell to 4th, the top debutant in 2:14:36. Nomiya was overtaken by Fumiyuki Watanabe (Team Asahi Kasei) and Takanori Ide (Team Kyudenko), both of whom recorded PBs in rounding out the top three.

2010 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon Top Finishers
click here for detailed results with splits
1. Masaki Shimoju (Team Konica Minolta) - 2:12:18 - PB
2. Fumiyuki Watanabe (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:13:52 - PB
3. Takanori Ide (Team Kyudenko) - 2:14:11 - PB
4. Norihiro Nomiya (Team Toyota) - 2:14:36 - debut
5. Kenji Higashino (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:15:42 - debut
6. Yuki Mori (Team Sumco Techxiv) - 2:16:24 - debut
7. Kenichi Kawano (Teikyo Univ.) - 2:19:51 - debut
8. Masaya Fujita (Team JFE Steel) - 2:21:24 - debut
9. Takayuki Tagami (Team Kyudenko) - 2:21:39 - debut
10. Teppei Suegami (Team YKK) - 2:21:54 - debut

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

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...

3 Athletes Provisionally Suspended After Positive Drug Tests at Asian Games (updated)

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. Update:  On Oct. 3 a third athlete, kurash wrestler Yash Kumar Chauhan  of India, was provisionally suspended after an in-competition test detected the steroid metandienone, the metabolic modulator GW1516, and the stimulant mephentermine in his system. source article: https://www.sanspo.com/article/20261002-X4FJLT5MMZKFND6WXPOESAKETQ/ translated by Brett Larner