Skip to main content

Hara Returns, Njui Wins Debut at Hokkaido Marathon

http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/sports/248520.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner
click link above for video highlights

The 2010 Hokkaido Marathon took place Aug. 29 in Sapporo, Hokkaido under exceptionally hot and humid conditions with 27 degree temperatures and 70% humidity at the start. Two-time World Championships marathoner Yumiko Hara (Team Universal Entertainment) won the women's race in 2:34:12 in her debut wearing the Universal uniform after a year of inactivity following her sudden departure from former sponsor Team Kyocera. Kenyan Cyrus Njui (Team Hitachi Cable), winner of last month's Sapporo Half Marathon, won the men's race in 2:11:22, his debut over the marathon distance and the second-fastest time ever recorded in Hokkaido.

Njui broke away from leader Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) at 38 km to seal the win in an outstanding time for the Hokkaido course. General division entrant Harun Njoroge (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.) likewise overtook the fading Mogusu for 2nd, while Mogusu staggered in for 3rd to complete the Kenyan hat trick.

Former Team Kyocera ace Hara and the team's current star Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) were pitched in a one-on-one race by halfway. With a surge at 32 km Hara put herself into position for the win. Miyauchi held on for 2nd ahead of Hara's teammate Mizuho Nasukawa (Team Universal Entertainment), the 2009 Tokyo Marathon winner.

This year's edition was the 24th running of the Hokkaido Marathon, an event which lets amateurs run in the same race as top pros. 8861 people entered, 7959 began the race and 5715 finished.

2010 Hokkaido Marathon - Top Finishers
click here for complete results
Men
1. Cyrus Njui (Kenya/Team Hitachi Cable) - 2:11:22 - debut
2. Harun Njoroge (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.) - 2:13:04 - PB
3. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) - 2:16:38 - PB
4. Masaru Takamizawa (Saku Chosei H.S. AC) - 2:18:17
5. Tetsuo Nishimura (Team YKK) - 2:18:31

Women
1. Yumiko Hara (Team Universal Ent.) - 2:34:12
2. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 2:35:42
3. Mizuho Nasukawa (Team Universal Ent.) - 2:36:07
4. Chinami Fukaminato (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:40:28
5. Ikuyo Yamashita (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 2:41:19
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...
2 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview and Streaming (updated)

Japan's winter marathon season of 6 major races in 7-straight weekends wraps up Sunday with the world's largest women-only marathon, the Nagoya Women's Marathon . The weather is looking pretty good, 6˚ at the start rising to 10˚ by the finish and sunny skies, but a moderate 7 m/s NW wind means a headwind finish that might impact the potential for some fast times. Official streaming kicks off at 9:00 a.m. local time. Live results will be here . Sheila Chepkirui won last year in 2:20:40, breaking away from Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba at 30 km and hanging on for the win. Sato negative split a 2:20:59 PB for 2nd, Chumba fading to 3rd in 2:21:36. All 3 are back this time, but they have pretty serious competition from Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Selly Chepyego Kaptich , 2:20:03 in Barcelona 2023. And of course, Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda . Maeda ran 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024 to make the Paris Oly...
Post a Comment
Read more

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...
53 comments
Read more