Skip to main content

Kano, Nishihara Lead Field of 308 at Sanyo Women's Road Race

http://svr.sanyo.oni.co.jp/feature/sports/road/2010/12/01/20101201095337.html

translated by Brett Larner

The organizing committee of the 29th Sanyo Women's Road Race, to be held Dec. 23 in Okayama, have announced the fields for this year's running. 88 women are entered in the Yuko Arimori Cup Half Marathon and 220 in the Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km, making for the race's largest-ever overall field, 308. A large number of experienced international-level athletes will wrap up their 2010 on Okayama's local streets.

Headlining the half marathon are defending champion Yumi Hirata (Team Shiseido) and 2009 World Championships marathon 7th placer Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC). Locally-based Team Tenmaya will supply Athens Olympics marathoner Naoko Sakamoto, 2010 Berlin Marathon 3rd place finisher Tomo Morimoto and last year's runner-up Kaori Urata. Other top women include Noriko Matsuoka and Kaori Akagawa (both Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), Mika Okunaga (Team Kyudenko) and this year's fastest Japanese woman over the half marathon distance, Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera).

The 10 km is split into two division, with 182 women in the elite division and 38 in the general division. The emphasis in the elite division is on the younger runners. At the top of the high-level field are 2009 World University Games 10000 m gold medalist and 2009 National University 5000 m champion Kasumi Nishihara and 2010 Asian Games 10000 m 5th placer and 10000 m national university record holder Hikari Yoshimoto (both Bukkyo University). Also scheduled to compete are 10000 m national junior record holder and Sendai Ikuei H.S. graduate Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno), 2008 Sanyo runner-up Risa Shigetomo and 2008 Beijing Olympics marathoner Yurika Nakamura (both Team Tenmaya), and 2010 World Half Marathon team member Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera).

Both races will begin at Kanko Stadium. The half marathon is scheduled to start at 10:00 and the 10 km at 10:15.

Translator's note: Nishihara and Yoshimoto's presence, along with that of any other top university women, is a by-product of the cancellation of the National University Women's Invitational Ekiden originally scheduled for the same day. Also expect to see larger than usual fields at the Dec. 25 Nittai University Women's Long Distance Time Trials track meet.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR have announced details for the qualifying half marathon for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The Yosenkai qualifying race will be held Oct. 17 in Tachikawa, Tokyo. The combined times of the 10 fastest finishers from each participating team will be used for team scoring, with the 10 fastest teams going on the the main event next January and top-placing individuals from teams that do not qualify being names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team. One change from previous years is that the number of runners each school can enter has been increased from 14 to 16. Teams will still only be allowed to have from 10 to 12 athletes on the starting line, but the move gives coaches greater flexibility in making the final decision on their starting rosters. No changes have been made to the qualifying times of 34:00 for 10000 m or 1:13:00 for the half marathon, and the new earlier starting time of 8:30 a.m. introduced last year in an effort to mitigate ...

Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

2010 Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/21/10 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 47:53 2. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 48:07 3. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 49:43 4. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 51:37 5. Benita Willis (Australia) - 51:51 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) - 41:13 - WR 2. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 42:01 3. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 42:01 4. Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) - 43:03 5. Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia) - 43:08 ----- 14. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 45:31