Skip to main content

Olympic Marathon Medalists Gelana and Kirui Headline 2013 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/other/athletic/headlines/20130115-00000028-kyodo_sp-spo.html

translated by Brett Larner

The domestic and international elite fields for the Feb. 3 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon were released on Jan. 15.  Headlining the men's field is London Olympics marathon silver medalist Abel Kirui (Kenya), who will be joined by Japanese Olympic marathoners Arata Fujiwara (Miki House) and Ryo Yamamoto (Team Sagawa Express).  London Olympics women's marathon gold medalist and defending Marugame champion Tiki Gelana (Ethiopia) returns to face off against 2011 Daegu World Championships marathon 5th-placer Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) and last year's National Championships 10000 m 5th-place finisher Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku).

2013 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon Entry List Highlights
Marugame, Kagawa, 2/3/13
click here for complete field listing

Women
Kim Smith (New Zealand) - 1:07:11
Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) - 1:08:11
Nicole Chapple (Australia) - 1:08:37
Tiki Gelana (Ethiopia) - 1:08:48
Yumiko Hara (Team Univ. Ent.) - 1:09:28
Marisa Barros (Portugal) - 1:09:41
Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 1:09:54
Eri Hayakawa (Team Toto) - 1:10:14
Kaori Yoshida (Puma RC) - 1:10:18
Sayo Nomura (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 1:10:34
Misato Horie (Team Noritz) - 1:10:37
Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 1:10:58

Men
Abel Kirui (Kenya) - 1:00:11
Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 1:00:25
Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:00:32
Alistair Cragg (Ireland) - 1:00:49
Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:00:58
Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Team Fujitsu) - 1:01:01
Benjamin Gandu (Kenya/Nihon Univ.) - 1:01:06
Collis Birmingham (Australia) - 1:01:25
Arata Fujiwara (Miki House) - 1:01:34
Johana Maina (Kenya/Team Fujitsu) - 1:01:34
Tatsunori Hamasaki (Team Komori Corp.) - 1:01:45
Yuta Igarashi (Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:01:46
Kenta Oshima (Team NTN) - 1:01:48
Yuko Matsumiya (Team Hitachi Butsuryu) - 1:01:53
Yuichiro Ogawa (Team Kanebo) - 1:01:53
Ryo Yamamoto (Team Sagawa Express) - 1:01:54
Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo) - 1:01:55
Hiromitsu Kakuage (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:56
Takahiro Yamanaka (Team Honda) - 1:01:57
Masamichi Shinozaki (Team Hitachi Butsuryu) - 1:01:58
Hiroyuki Uno (Team Honda) - 1:01:58
Shuji Yoshikawa (Team Kyudenko) - 1:01:58
Kidane Tadasse (Eritrea) - debut - 27:06.16 for 10000 m
Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei) - debut - 27:53.19 for 10000 m
Enock Omwamba (Kenya/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - debut - 28:17.00 for 10000 m

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Hassan Runs NR/CR for Osaka Win, Dibaba Hits Women's CR, Yoshida and Shuley Earn Legends

This was maybe the most entertaining marathon in years. After rocking the 2nd leg at last year's Hakone Ekiden Hibiki Yoshida (Sunbelx) ran an incredible 1:01:01 CR for the 21.9 km New Year Ekiden 2nd leg last month, equivalent to a 58:47 half marathon. That predicted a 2:03:27 marathon if he ever ran one, and when Yoshida announced he was debuting at this year's Osaka Marathon he wasted no time in saying it'd be a shot at the 2:04:55 NR. Things went out fast enough with a 14:50 split through 5 km, 2:05:11 pace, but Yoshida just couldn't hold back and took off at 8 km. He clearly DGAF about what was probably going to happen as his projected finish kept getting faster, 2:04:41, 2:04:15, 2:03:51, 2:03:40, edging closer and closer to what his New Year time predicted, but not helped along by the fact that he missed 4 out of his first 5 drink bottles. People laughed, and then cheered him on. 30 km was the first time he slowed, his finish projection dropping to 2:03:53, an...

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...

Ogikubo Breaks Road 10 km NR - April Road Roundup

And now back to our regular schedule. Two of Japan's best current marathoners, Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko), 6th in the Paris Olympics and 2nd in Berlin last fall in a 2:06:15 PB, and Shunya Kikuchi (Chugoku Denryoku), 7th in Osaka last year in a PB of 2:06:06, were supposed to be in on the wild action at the Boston Marathon and London Marathon , but both ended up scratching with injury. It's hard not to wonder what kind of dent they might have made, especially Akasaki. In Kikuchi's absence London didn't have any elite-level Japanese athletes, and the only one in Boston was Mao Uesugi (Tokyo Metro), 2:22:11 in Nagoya last year. Uesugi went out relatively strongly but faded hard in the hills to finish only 26th in 2:34:38. One other Japanese woman, Sherry Drury , ran the BAA Mile held the Saturday before the marathon, finishing 6th in 4:43.26. Bigger news the same day as the BAA Mile came in Spain, where Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) followed up his 1:00:22 half ma...