Skip to main content

Akaba, Maruyama Win Fast National Corporate Half Marathon

by Brett Larner

Course record holder Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) ran 1:08:59 to claim her second National Corporate Half Marathon Championships victory Mar. 17 in Yamaguchi. With the first sub-1:09 by a Japanese woman since her 1:08:11 course record in 2008 Akaba outran ekiden star Hanae Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei), who made a solid debut in 1:09:18. Having faltered in recent seasons and missing the London Olympics, Akaba will run next month's London Marathon, the site of her best marathon to date, in a bid to make the Moscow World Championships team.  Riko Matsuzaki (Team Sekisui Kagaku) won the women's 10 km in 32:48 by a margin of 7 seconds.

In the men's race 22-year-old Fumihiro Maruyama (Team Asahi Kasei), 2nd behind Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) at last month's Kumanichi 30 km, won in a PB 1:01:15, outrunning Kenyans Johana Maina (Team Fujitsu) and, in his last run in Japan, Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin).  Maruyama's time was good enough to tie the all-time Japanese #8 mark, securing his place among the best of Japan's youngest elite set.

2013 National Corporate Half Marathon Championships
Yamaguchi, 3/17/13
click here for complete results

Men
1. Fumihiro Maruyama (Team Asahi Kasei) - 1:01:15
2. Johana Maina (Kenya/Team Fujitsu) - 1:01:28
3. Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 1:01:43
4. Minato Oishi (Team Toyota) - 1:02:06
5. Alex Mwangi Kenya/Team YKK) - 1:02:09
6. Muryo Takase (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 1:02:12
7. Tomohiro Shiiya (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 1:02:15
8. Tomohiro Tanigawa (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:02:19
9. Kazuki Onishi (Team Kanebo) - 1:02:21
10. Akihiko Tsumurai (Team Mazda) - 1:02:27

Women
1. Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) - 1:08:59
2. Hanae Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 1:09:18
3. Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) - 1:09:45
4. Grace Kimanzi (Kenya/Team Starts) - 1:10:17
5. Yurie Doi (Team Starts) - 1:10:50
6. Yuka Tokuda (Team Starts) - 1:11:00
7. Aya Nagata (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 1:11:22
8. Keiko Nogami (Team Juhachi Ginko) - 1:11:46
9. Sakiko Matsumi (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 1:11:47
10. Nanami Matsuura (Team Tenmaya) - 1:11:59

Women's 10 km
1. Riko Matsuzaki (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 32:48
2. Miho Ihara (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 32:55
3. Misaki Onishi (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 32:58
4. Yui Okada (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 32:58
5. Yuki Mitsunobu (Team Kyocera) - 33:01

(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Rui Aoki and Shunsuke Kuwata Making U.S. Debut at United Airlines NYC Half

When the National University Half Marathon was canceled in 2011 after the massive earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan 2 days before the race, JRN talked to the New York Road Runners about bringing 2 collegiate runners to the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon the next weekend as a show of support. It wasn't possible to pull it together in the immediate aftermath of the disasters, but a year later we brought 2 young 2nd-years from Hakone Ekiden CR breaker Toyo University , Kento Otsu and Yuta Shitara , who had been the top 2 Japanese collegiate finishers at the Ageo City Half Marathon in November before Hakone. Shitara ran 1:01:48, at the time the fastest-ever by a Japanese man on U.S. soil, with Otsu running a solid 1:03:15. Thanks to that great start the Ageo-NYC partnership became a regular thing, and except for the pandemic it's continued every year since, expanding this year to June's New York Mini 10 km when 2 runners from Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden runne...
2 comments
Read more

Kuwata Runs Fastest-Ever Half Marathon by Japanese Man Outside Japan at United Airlines NYC Half

When the NYRR changed the United Airlines NYC Half course back in 2018 to more or less its current Boston-style hilly one-way version it seemed like it had been repurposed from a fast course to something more tactical. That went out the window last year with new course records of 59:09 and 1:07:04 from Abel Kipchumba and Sharon Lokedi , and this year's results backed that up. Hellen Obiri ground Lokedi down and took over 30 seconds off her CR, winning in 1:06:33 with Lokedi only 6 seconds off what she ran in 2025 but a distant 2nd in 1:07:10. British road 10 km NR holder Megan Keith rolled up hard late in the race to finish 3rd in 1:07:13 less than 10 seconds off old CR too. The men's race saw a big group of 18 attack the hilly first half on sub-59 pace, American Joe Klecker leading through 5 km in 13:57 and Houston Marathon winner Zouhair Talbi through 10 km in 27:56. Right up in it was Shunsuke Kuwata , a 20-year-old 2nd-year at 2025 National University Ekiden champ Koma...
Post a Comment
Read more

Japan's Team for World Indoor Championships

Japan is sending a team of 3 women and 7 men to this weekend's Kujaway Pomorze World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland. A quick look at the lineup with best times in last 3 years: Women 3000 m   Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance) - 8:33.52 (2025) 60 mH Mako Fukube (NKK) - 8.02 (2026) Chisato Kiyoyama (Ichigo) - 8.09 (2026) Men 60 m Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 6.53 (2024) Yoshiki Kinashi (Tsukuba Univ. Grad School) - 6.60 (2026) 800 m Allon Tatsunami Clay (Penn State Univ.) - 1:45.17 (2026) 60 mH Shusei Nomoto (Ehime T&F) - 7.59 (2026) Ryota Fujii (Tottori Sports Assoc.) - 7.71 (2024) High Jump Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) - 2.30 m (2026) Tomohiro Shinno (Kraftia) - 2.30 m (2026) © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved
Post a Comment
Read more