Skip to main content

Batochir, Hunt, Njenga, Njoroge, Ramadhani Headline 61st Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon

http://sp.mainichi.jp/m/news.html?cid=20120118k0000m050038000c

translated by Brett Larner

On Jan. 17 the organizers of the Feb. 5 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon announced the elite field for this year's 61st running.  The six Japan-based invited athletes include last year's runner-up Daniel Njenga (Kenya/Team Yakult) and 6th-place finisher Yuki Moriwaki (Team JFE Steel), last summer's Asian Championships bronze medalist Kenji Takeuchi (Team Toyota Kyushu) and 2011 Hokkaido Marathon winner Harun Njoroge (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.).

Among the seven  overseas elites are 2010's 3rd-placer Jeff Hunt (Australia), 2007 Biwako Mainichi Marathon winner Samson Ramadhani (Tanzania) and two-time Hofu Yomiuri Marathon winner Serod Batochir (Mongolia).

The general division includes 2011 Grand Tour Kyushu ekiden MVP Takehiro Arakawa (Team Asahi Kasei) and Takaaki Tanaka of 2012 Hakone Ekiden course record setters Toyo University, both making their marathon debuts.  Comedian Hiroshi Neko is also entered as part of his quest to qualify for the London Olympics for Cambodia.  A total of 2098 athletes are entered for this year's race.

2012 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Elite Field
Oita, 2/5/12
click here for complete field listing

Men
1. Samson Ramadhani (Tanzania) - 2:08:01 (London, 2003)
2. Abdellah Falil (Morocco) - 2:08:18 (Daegu, 2011)
3. Adam Draczynski (Poland) - 2:10:49 (Vienna, 2010)
4. Jeff Hunt (Australia) - 2:11:00 (Beppu-Oita, 2010)
5. Serod Batochir (Mongolia) - 2:11:35 (London, 2011)
6. Desta Gebrehiwet (Ethiopia) - 2:11:55 (Venice, 2011)
7. Yakob Jarso (Ethiopia) - debut - 1:00:07 (New Delhi, 2010)
11. Daniel Njenga (Kenya/Team Yakult) - 2:06:16 (Chicago, 2002)
12. Harun Njoroge (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.) - 2:11:43 (Beppu-Oita, 2011)
13. Yuki Moriwaki (Team JFE Steel) - 2:12:34 (Beppu-Oita, 2011)
14. Kenji Takeuchi (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 2:12:44 (Nobeoka, 2011)
15. Keisuke Wakui (Team Yakult) - 2:13:31 (Biwako, 2011)
16. Masanori Ishida (Team Sagawa Express) - 2:13:54 (Nobeoka, 2011)
101. Norimasa Nishina (Team Fujitsu) - 2:15:12 (Hofu, 2011)
102. Chia Che Chang (Taiwan) - 2:17:12 (Hofu, 2008)
104. Tetsuo Nishimura (Team YKK) - 2:14:22 (Biwako, 2007)
105. Rei Yoshioka (Team Yakult) - debut - 1:02:56 (Ageo, 2005)
112. Teruto Ozaki (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:13:28 (Beijing, 2006)
115. Takehiro Arakawa (Team Asahi Kasei) - debut - 1:03:17 (Tamana, 2011)
116. Yoshikazu Kawazoe (Team Asahi Kasei) - debut - 1:03:19 (Nat'l Corp. Half, 2010)
120. Yu Chiba (Team Honda) - debut - 1:04:01
121. Takaaki Tanaka (Toyo Univ.) - debut - 1:05:44

Women
2001. Kaori Yoshida (Amino Vital AC) - 2:29:45 (Chicago, 2010)
2002. Chiyuki Mochizuki (Canon AC Kyushu) - 2:39:57 (Beppu-Oita, 2011)
2003. Yuka Ezaki (Team Kyudenko) - 2:31:35 (Osaka Int'l, 2007)

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

Kawauchi Wins Inaugural Kawauchi Half Marathon

http://www.minyu-net.com/sports/running/FM20160501-070419.php translated by Brett Larner 川内優輝ロード pic.twitter.com/rEJk7CQPFV — みとっぽ (黒) (@mitoppo_tmyk) April 30, 2016 Yuki Kawauchi Road in Kawauchi, Fukushima Held to inspire former residents to return to the area after the nearby TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident five years ago, the village of Kawauchi held the first " Kawauchi no Sato Kaeru Half Marathon - From Reconstruction to Creation " on April 30.  The course started and finished at the village heliport.  1188 runners from across the country gathered to celebrate the village's revival as they ran through its springtime streets. The event's organizing committee was made up of local government and board of education members with support from the Fukushima Minyu Newspaper and other sponsors.  The race's purpose was to transmit the vitality and charm of the reconstructing Kawauchi village to the rest of the nation in hopes of helpin...

A Record-Breaking 22 High School Boys Under 14 Minutes for 5000 m This Season

As we saw with multiple national records at last Friday's long distance National Championships , the Japanese distance world keeps getting faster and faster. High school athletes are no exception. Breaking 14 minutes for 5000 m is the gold standard for a top-level high school runner. This season 22 boys have done it not including foreign student athletes, almost double the previous record for a single season, 12 in 2010. In 2010, Kenta Murayama , now part of the Asahi Kasei corporate team but then running for Miyagi's Meisei H.S., was the fastest high schooler at 13:49.45. Future Tokyo Olympics marathon trials winner Shogo Nakamura ran 13:50.38 that year while at Iga Hakuho H.S. Since then the number of boys under 14 minutes has held steady, with 10 in 2015, 10 in 2016 and 11 in 2019, showing how exceptional this season's number is. Leading this new generation is Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S. 3rd-year Kosuke Ishida . While at Fukuoka's Asakawa J.H.S. Ishida ran 3:49.72 for 1...