Skip to main content

Kenyans Karukuwa, Waroru Take Course Records at Tamana Half Marathon

by Brett Larner

click here for photos of the race

With ideal weather across most of the country, Kenyans Dishon Karukuwa (Team Aisan Kogyo) and Titus Waroru (Chinzei Gakuin H.S.) ran through light rain to take down the course records in the men's half marathon and high school boys' 10 km divisions at the 62nd running of the Kanaguri Hai Tamana Half Marathon Mar. 6 in Tamana, Kumamoto. Back on the roads after running January's Osaka International Women's Marathon, last year's runner-up Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera), one of the nine Japanese women training in Christchurch, New Zealand at the time of the recent major earthquake, took the women's 10 km by a wide margin.

The 19 year-old Karukuwa ran 1:02:20 to break the standing half marathon course record by 18 seconds. He was the first Kenyan winner in Tamana history and only the third non-Japanese to ever take the title. Runner-up Yukinobu Nakazaki (Team Toyota Kyushu) ran a strong 1:03:09, fast enough to have won all but three Tamana runnings but nearly a minute behind Karukuwa. Karukuwa reports having returned from altitude training in Kenya last week and plans to run next week's Jitsugyodan Half Marathon Championships as well as to debut at the marathon later this year.

Waroru, last year's high school 10 km runner-up and Karukuwa's successor at Chinzei, posted even bigger gains with an outstanding 28:07 mark, taking 44 seconds off the course record set last year by Steven Njeri (Kenya) to make it three three straight years of Kenyan victory. Local runner-up Kazuma Kubota (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) was a distant 29:41 but led teammates Kyosuke Yoshida and Kazuma Watanabe under 30 minutes along with rival Shohei Otsuka (Oita Tomei H.S.).

Miyauchi, who won in 2009 in 32:33 and finished 2nd behind multiple national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) last year in 32:43, became the first woman to win Tamana three times, clocking 32:53. Fukushi, scheduled to defend the title, sat out as she deals with post-traumatic stress from being caught in the Christchurch earthquake. Kamimura Gakuen H.S. teammates Misuzu Nakahara and Nozomi Nishiyama were a distant 2-3 in 33:38 and 33:44.

2011 Kanaguri Hai Tamana Half Marathon
click division header for complete results
1. Dishon Karukuwa (Kenya/Team Aisan Kogyo) - 1:02:20 - CR
2. Yukinobu Nakazaki (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:09
3. Takehiro Arakawa (Team Asahi Kasei) - 1:03:17
4. Takahiro Gunji (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:04:33
5. Koji Inagaki (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 1:04:41

1. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 32:53
2. Misuzu Nakahara (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 33:38
3. Nozomi Nishiyama (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 33:44
4. Rina Hidaki (Fukuoka Univ.) - 33:45
5. Akane Sueyoshi (Team Kyocera) - 33:46

1. Titus Waroru (Chinzei Gakuin H.S.) - 28:07 - CR
2. Kazuma Kubota (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 29:41
3. Kyosuke Yoshida (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 29:42
4. Kazuma Watanabe (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 29:43
5. Shohei Otsuka (Oita Tomei H.S.) - 29:50

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Kobe Marathon Elite Field

Sunday's Kobe Marathon has announced its elite fields, finally. Japanese athletes have a shot at qualifying for next fall's MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, if they go sub-2:27 for the first Japanese woman across the line or sub-2:09 for the first 3 Japanese men to do it. There aren't a lot of contenders to pull it off. On the women's side, Kaede Hagitani , Ayaka Shimoyamada and Kotomi Tsubokura all ran 2:31-32 PBs in the spring and will need to step it up a couple of notches to get there. 2:23 Kenyan Antonina Kwambai is perfectly positioned to help. On the men's side, Keijiro Mogi is closest with a 2:09:06 at last year's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Hiroto Kanamori his closest domestic competition with a 2:10:01 PB in Osaka in February. The international trio of last year's winner Barnaba Kipkoech , Elisha Rotich and Goitom Kifle all have recent 2:06-7 times and should help set it up for someone to get there, wh...
1 comment
Read more

Kenyan Graduate Student Athlete Posts Job Hunt for Ekiden Team on Twitter

A Kenyan runner who had tried to help lead his team to the Hakone Ekiden has taken an unusual approach to finding a post-graduation sponsor. Last week Patrick Kamau posted his job hunt on his Twitter account , saying, "I am looking for a club team or a corporate team where I can run in ekidens. I would be happy to run for any team that gave me a chance. I would be grateful for any opportunity and take it on with a positive attitude!" Kamau was 5th at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying race half marathon in 1:01:10 last year during his 4th year at Jobu University . But despite his efforts, Jobu never qualified for Hakone during his 4 years there. He is currently working on a graduate degree while looking for "a team that will let me continue my competitive career." Fans responded to Kamau's job search posting, saying, "I hope it works out for you!" "Good luck comes to those who work hard" and "Kamau is going to graduate school? Given...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite Field (updated)

Another big race on the MGC qualifying calendar has posted its elite fields, the Dec. 6 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon . It looks like a good race for the single MGC spot up for women under 2:27, and the 6 spots for men sub-2:09. Yuka Ando is the favorite in the women's race with a 2:21:18 in Nagoya 2 years ago, with her only real competition coming from Ayumi Morita , who broke 2:27 in Hofu last year but missed qualifying by not being the first Japanese woman across the line. CR holder Workneh Derese is back after his 2:06:58 win last year, leading Kenyan veteran Bedan Karoki and 4 Japanese men with a solid chance at sub-2:09, Tatsuya Maruyama , Ryoma Takeuchi , Shuho Dairokuno and Kento Nishi . Takeuchi set his 2:08:20 PB at Gold Coast in July, and Dairokuno is fresh off a great run at the final Kyushu Corporate Ekiden. Masatoshi Sakata , Yota Ifuku , Madoka Tanihara and Daiji Kawai have both come close to sub-2:09 in recent races and could factor in. 57th Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite...
1 comment
Read more