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Morimoto Wins Photo Finish at Himeijijo 10-Miler

by Brett Larner

Takuji Morimoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku) won a close Himejijo 10-Miler on Feb. 11, nearly clipped at the line by Daisuke Kumon (Kanagawa Univ.) after frontrunning the entire race.  The relatively slow 47:58 winning time meant a large pack was together behind Morimoto until late in the game, when only Kumon, Yuya Taguchi (Team Toyota Boshoku), 2011 Himejijo winner Takahiro Aso (Team Aisan Kogyo) and Hiroaki Inoue (Team Toenec) were able to remain in pursuit.  2009 winner Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin) led the chase pack to take 6th, with 2006 and 2012 winner Kazuyoshi Tokumoto (Team Monteroza) an apparent DNS.

Local Misaki Hayashida (Himeji Shogyo H.S.) had a similarly close victory in the women's 5 km, outrunning a pack of four from 2012 National High School Ekiden champion Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. to win by 1 second in 16:24.  Yuki Fujiwara was Ritsumeikan Uji's top finisher a stride behind Hayashida.

53rd Himejijo 10-Mile Road Race
Himeji, Hyogo, 2/11/13
click here for complete results

Men's 10 Miles
1. Takuji Morimoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 47:58
2. Daisuke Kumon (Kanagawa Univ.) - 47:58
3. Yuya Taguchi (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 47:59
4. Takahiro Aso (Team Aisan Kogyo) - 47:59
5. Hiroaki Inoue (Team Toenec) - 48:02
6. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 48:08
7. Tomonori Ikebuchi (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 48:10
8. Satoshi Matsuoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 48:11
9. Naoki Shibata (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 48:12
10. Tetsuya Kimura (Team Sumitomo Denko) - 48:22

Women's 5 km
1. Misaki Hayashida (Himeji Shogyo H.S.) - 16:24
2. Yuki Fujiwara (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 16:25
3. Kureha Seki (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 16:26
4. Chika Umehara (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 16:31
5. Yuka Sako (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 16:31

(c) 2013 Brett Larner
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