Murayama and Tanaka Crack Top Ten at New York City Half Marathon

by Brett Larner
photos courtesy Photo Run / NYRR

Invited to race after finishing in the top two spots at last November's Ageo City Half Marathon, Kenta Murayama (Komazawa University) and Kento Otsu (Toyo University) ran the 2013 New York City Half Marathon on Mar. 17.  Up front through the slow 15:04 first 5 km, Otsu dropped back before the lead pack left Central Park while Murayama took the lead near halfway and stayed with the leaders including world-level medalists Wilson Kipsang (Kenya), Bernard Lagat (U.S.A.) and Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) through 15 km.  "I looked around at 15 km and couldn't believe some of the people I was still there with," Murayama told JRN post-race.

Falling behind with Kipsang's move at 15 km, he still managed to get into the top ten with a time of 1:02:02, exactly one minute off winner Kipsang and beating his hero Lagat by nearly 30 seconds.  Otsu, who suffered injury setbacks following January's Hakone Ekiden, ran 1:04:03 for 19th, slower than his 1:03:14 at last year's New York Half but improving on his 25th-place finish.  "Central Park is hard," he told JRN.  2012 National Corporate Half Marathon winner Tomomi Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) ran 1:10:31 for 8th in the women's race, almost 45 seconds off her best.

2013 New York City Half Marathon
New York, 3/17/13
click here for complete results

Men
1. Wilson Kipsang (Kenya) - 1:01:02
2. Daniele Meucci (Italy) - 1:01:06 - PB
3. Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) - 1:01:10
4. Leonard Korir (Kenya) - 1:01:19 - debut
5. Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 1:01:21 - PB
6. Sam Chelanga (Kenya) - 1:01:26
7. Stephen Sambu (Kenya) - 1:01:34 - PB
8. Julius Arile (Kenya) - 1:01:38
9. Jason Hartmann (U.S.A.) - 1:01:51 - PB
10. Kenta Murayama (Japan/Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:02
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12. Bernard Lagat (U.S.A.) - 1:02:33 - debut
19. Kento Otsu (Japan/Toyo Univ.) - 1:04:03

Women
1. Caroline Rotich (Kenya) - 1:09:09
2. Diane Nukuri-Johnson (Burundi) - 1:09:12 - NR
3. Lisa Stublic (Croatia) - 1:09:18 - NR
4. Sabrina Mockenhaupt (Germany) - 1:09:42
5. Lyudmila Kovalenko (Ukraine) - 1:09:43 - NR
6. Madai Perez (Mexico) - 1:10:27
7. Yolanda Caballero (Colombia) - 1:10:30 - NR
8. Tomomi Tanaka (Japan/Team Daiichi Seimei) - 1:10:31
9. Stephanie Rothstein-Bruce (U.S.A.) - 1:10:53 - PB
10. Sara Moreira (Portugal) - 1:11:03
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DNF - Kim Smith (New Zealand)

(c) 2013 Brett Larner
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photos (c) 2013 Photo Run/NYRR
all rights reserved