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: 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

Summary of Japanese Medalists at Asian Athletics Championships

Overall:    gold: 4   silver: 6   bronze: 10 Men:    gold: 1   silver: 3   bronze: 4 Women:    gold: 3   silver: 3   bronze: 6 20th Asian Athletics Championships Pune, India, July 3-7, 2013 click here for complete results Men's 200 m Final   +0.7 m/s 1. Xie Zhenye (China) - 20.87 2. Fahad Mohammed Alsubaie (Saudi Arabia) - 20.912 3. Kei Takase (Japan) - 20.918 Men's 400 m Final 1. Yousef Ahmed Masrahi (Saudi Arabia) - 45.08 2. Ali Khamis (Bahrain) - 45.65 3. Yuzo Kanemaru (Japan) - 45.95 Men's 110 m Hurdles Final   +0.1 m/s 1. Jiang Fan (China) - 13.61 2. Abdulaziz Almandeel (Kuwait) - 13.78 3. Wataru Yazawa (Japan) - 13.88 Men's 400 m Hurdles Final 1. Yasuhiro Fueki (Japan) - 49.86 2. Cheng Wen (China) - 50.07 3. Satinder Singh (India) - 50.35 Men's 3000 m SC 1. Tarek Mubarak Taher (Bahrain) - 8:34.77 2. Dejene Regassa Mootoma (Bahrain) - 8:37.40 3. Tsuyoshi Takeda (Japan) - 8...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fast High School 5000 m Times at Nittai and Kyoto

After the great men's 10000 m and women's 5000 m results on day 1 of the last full Nittai University Time Trials meet of 2025, day 2 brought a lot of great 5000 m times from high schoolers, both at Nittai and at another meet in Kyoto. At Nittai, Bilith Boi (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) downed 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) in the last of the 35 heats of 5000 m, running 13:27.52 to Miura's 13:28.61. Ryo Goda (Yasukawa Denki) also got under 13:30, running 13:29.41 for 3rd, with 40-year-old Yuichiro Ueno (Hiramatsu Byoin) rocking on with a 13:32.12 for 4th. James Karuri (Aomori Yamada H.S.) was 8th in 13:35.46, with 17-year-old Naoya Doma (Sera H.S.) running an excellent 13:39.13 for 10th. Samuel Gayu and Yua Hayashi also got under 14 minutes in the same heat to make it 3 sub-14 for Sapporo Yamanote H.S. In Heat 34, Chien Tzu-Chieh (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) ran a Taiwanese NR 13:48.99 for 4th, with Yui Kudo and Yugo Yamamoto running sub-14 to bring the Aomori Yamada...
Post a Comment
Read more