Skip to main content

Mathathi Breaks One Hour in Half Marathon Debut

by Brett Larner

On a warm and windy day, 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist and 10 mile junior world record holder Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) performed up to expectations in his half marathon debut at the May 9 Sendai International Half Marathon. Already on his own after a quick 14:03 first 5 km, Mathathi ran a solo race. He was consistent through 15 km, clocking 14:04 from 5 to 10 km and 14:07 from 10 to 15 km, on pace at that stage to run 59:24. Only after 15 km did he slow, dropping to a 14:30 split from 15 to 20 km. Mathathi finished in 59:48, just 5 seconds off Samuel Wanjiru's 5 year-old course and Japanese all-comers record. His outstanding debut was a prelude to a planned marathon debut in the upcoming winter season.

Still yet to regain his university form, runner-up Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) was nearly 2 minutes behind in 1:01:34. The top Japanese runner, Osamu Ibata (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) was another 2 minutes back in 1:03:39, finishing 5th overall.

The women's race was more of a tactical affair, with 5 runners still together at 20 km. Noriko Higuchi (Team Wacoal) won out in the sprint finish to take the race in 1:12:51, 2 seconds ahead of runner-up Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera). Both Higuchi and Ibata are likely to be named to the Japanese team for this year's World Half Marathon Championships on the strength of their performances in Sendai.

2010 Sendai International Half Marathon - Top Finishers
Men
1. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 59:48 - debut
2. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) - 1:01:34
3. Silas Njui (Kenya/Team Hitachi Cable) - 1:01:46
4. James Mwangi (Kenya/Team NTN) - 1:02:40
5. Osamu Ibata (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:03:39
6. Harun Njoroge (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.) - 1:03:40
7. Takashi Horiguchi (Team Honda) - 1:03:48
8. Shingo Mishima (Team Toyota) - 1:03:52
9. Minoru Okuda (Team Honda) - 1:04:00
10. Dishawn Karukuwa (Kenya/Team Aisan Kogyo) - 1:04:09

Women
1. Noriko Higuchi (Team Wacoal) - 1:12:51
2. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 1:12:53
3. Miho Notagashira (Team Wacoal) - 1:12:54
4. Chika Horie (Team Universal Entertainment) - 1:13:00
5. Ayumi Nakayama (Team Yamada Denki) - 1:13:02
6. Yuko Machida (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 1:13:09
7. Manami Takemori (Team Sysmex) - 1:13:14
8. Misato Horie (Team Noritz) - 1:13:22
9. Ayu Sakaida (Team Daihatsu) - 1:13:23
10. Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) - 1:13:32

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .
Post a Comment
Read more

Osako Breaks Marathon NR for 3rd Time - Weekend Roundup

It looked like it was going to be a big weekend, and it delivered. For the 3rd time in his career Suguru Osako broke the men's marathon NR, running 1 second under the standing record to take 4th in the Valencia Marathon in 2:04:55. All the way to 40 km he was steady on 2:58/km, 2:05:10 pace, and like a surprising number of other people in both the men's and women's races, there was a massive jump over the last 2.195 km from his projected finish time to his actual one. His run put Osako back on top of the Japanese charts, put the average of Japan's 10 fastest marathon times of the year under 2:06 for the first time, and got him into the L.A. Olympics marathon trials. Valencia has been trying to get top-tier Japanese athletes to come for years, and now that they finally managed to do it it paid off in a big way. Expect more next year. Back home, former Takushoku University captain Derese Workneh won a 3-way race against Toyota teammates Kazuya Nishiyama and Bedan Ka...
4 comments
Read more

'Kobe 2024: Monday Sees Shocking Wins on the Track and the Field'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-monday-sees-shocking-wins-track-and-field Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .
Post a Comment
Read more