Skip to main content

2008 Gold Coast Marathon Winner Kazuo Ietani Retires

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/201402/0006738287.shtml

translated and edited by Brett Larner

With a list of accomplishments over his 18-year career on the track and roads including a gold medal at the 2001 East Asian Men's Half Marathon, Kazuo Ietani (36, Team Sanyo Tokushu Seikyo) has announced that he is retiring from competition.  Beginning in April he will focus on his work with the Sanyo corporation.  The Mar. 2 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon will remain as his final race.

Ietani was born in Tatsuno, Hyogo.  After graduating from Tatsuno Higashi J.H.S. he attended Himeji Shogyo H.S., where he made a name on the ekiden circuit.  At Sanyo Tokushu Seiko he was the team's backbone, running the longest stage reserved for the best Japanese athletes at the New Year Ekiden.

He also had a wealth of international experience running on the Japanese National Team, sharing a joint men's-women's win with Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex, then Team Globally) at the 2001 East Asian Half Marathon, placing 8th in the World Road Running Championships and taking 5th in the 10000 m at the Asian Championships.  He ran a marathon best of 2:12:37 and won the 2008 Gold Coast Marathon.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

Hirayama Breaks Osaka Half CR, Martinez Set Puerto Rican NR

The Osaka Half Marathon took another big step up the domestic half marathon rankings from a mass-participation race run alongside the Osaka International Women's Marathon to one of the country's top-tier races. In the women's race, the debuting Jecinta Nyokabi (Denso) went out fast, only to be run down by veteran Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon AC) by 10 km. Nyokabi faded to 6th in 1:10:41, but Yoshikawa pushed on to a PB 1:09:14 for the win. Rina Shimizu (Noritz), Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) and Makoto Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.) all broke 70 minutes, Tsuchiya taking the Kansai Region collegiate title in 1:09:32 for 4th overall. Everyone in the top 10 who wasn't debuting ran a PB, a mark of how fast the day was even with cold and windy conditions. The men's race went out on sub-61 pace courtesy of Yudai Shimazu (GMO), then got a big injection of speed when Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) took off close to 60-flat pace. Yokota opened a 10-second lead by 15 km, but over ...

Marugame, Beppu-Oita and More - Weekend Preview

After the Osaka International Women's Marathon and Osaka Half Marathon last weekend Japan's winter road season rolls on with 3 big races Sunday. The Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon has a good field up front in the women's race with 5 runners, Eilish McColgan , Dolphine Omare , Isobel Batt-Doyle , Charlotte Purdue and Yuka Ando , with sub-1:09 bests and the debut of #1 collegiate runner Sarah Wanjiru of Daito Bunka University . 3 men in Marugame have recent sub-60 times, Emmanuel Maru , Richard Etir and Kotaro Shinohara leading the way. Shinohara was one of 2 Japanese men to break 60 at Marugame last year and missed the NR by 3 seconds in 59:30. After a 42:53 CR on his 15.3 km leg at the New Year Ekiden on Jan.1, 45:06 pace for 10 miles, he's looking to pick up at least another 4 seconds this time around. 14 other men in the field are at the 60-minute level, and Chuo University 's sub-28 10000 m runner Yamato Hamaguchi is making a highly anticip...