Skip to main content

Kawauchi Breaks Own CR at Chitose International Marathon

by Brett Larner
photo by shinopota

In his sixth marathon so far in 2014 Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) scored his fourth marathon course record win of the year at Sunday's Chitose JAL International Marathon, running 2:15:57 to take more than 2 1/2 minutes off the record he set last year.

Pre-race he told JRN, "I'm going for the course record, and unless I fall apart near the end it won't be a problem."  In warm temperatures on a tough course including a 155 m climb near halfway and extensive gravel and dirt road sections Kawauchi had little trouble living up to those words and doing away with both his own record and the competition. Runner-up Sho Matsumoto (Arata Project), a 2:13 marathoner in 2013, was almost eight minutes back in 2:23:50.  In breaking 2:20 Kawauchi cleared another historic mark, setting a new Japanese record of 35 career sub-2:20 marathons and taking the great Takeshi Soh off the books.

Women's winner Hiroko Yoshitomi (First Dream AC Saga), like Kawauchi an amateur serial marathoner, won in 2:45:43 by a similar margin over Risa Suzuki (Art Sports), 2nd in 2:52:38.  Both Kawauchi and Yoshitomi will line up for their next marathons at July's Gold Coast Airport Marathon in Australia.

34th Chitose JAL International Marathon
Chitose, Hokkaido, 6/1/14
click here for complete results

 Men
1. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 2:15:57 - CR
2. Sho Matsumoto (Arata Project) - 2:23:50
3. Takahiro Nakama (Keiei Shien Center) - 2:26:52

Women
1. Hiroko Yoshitomi (First Dream AC Saga) - 2:45:43
2. Risa Suzuki (Art Sports) - 2:52:38
3. Mai Fujisawa (Sapporo City Hall) - 3:03:34

text (c) 2014 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

 photo (c) 2014 shinopota
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
hello. contacting you from singapore. i am from run in asia, an online magazine for running. would like to check if you want to join our blogger team. if you're interested please contact us back at http://runinasia.com
June 3, 2014 at 2:17 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Khishigsaikhan and Kuira Break Ageo City Half Marathon CRs (updated)

Stellar conditions and a solid fields meant times were going to be fast at the Ageo City Half Marathon , and in both the women's and men's races the front end took full advantage of the day. In the midst of the super-deep men's field Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh , the top Mongolian in this summer's Budapest World Championships marathon and in last month's Hangzhou Asian Games marathon, ran steady and strong, splitting 33:29 at 10 km, 1:10:38 pace, before pushing the 2nd half. Khishigsaikhan crossed the finish line 1:10:32, 1:22 under the old course record, 3:35 ahead of 2nd-place Kana Kobayashi , and a massive 4:16 off the Mongolian women's national record. Khishigsaikhan is currently training in Japan and ran Ageo in prep for next month's Taipei City Marathon, where she was 3rd last year. The men's race went out hard, with Kenyan Brian Kipyegon (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.), NR holder Yusuke Ogura (Yakult) and the ambitious Rei Matsunaga (Hosei) leading the ...
1 comment
Read more

A Few Words on Chicago

by Brett Larner photos by Dr. Helmut Winter Chicago comes at a tough time for Japan's corporate leagues, just before the start of the fall ekiden season's regional qualifiers.  Although just about every team has more than enough people to fill their lineups for these relatively minor events, head coaches will usually not let their better athletes do an October marathon, whether because of the limited recovery time in the event that they decide a big gun has to run in a qualifier, or because it would give them the hassle of explaining to the parent corporation why a star is off doing his or her own thing instead of being there for the team.  As a result you typically only see Japanese runners at Chicago when they are looking to drop something big, as with Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) and Yoshinori Oda  (Team Toyota) this year, or, like the block of  Japanese men at 2:12~2:13 , as part of a corporate federation junket for promising third-tier men to get the exp...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tanaka and Hashioka Win Gold - World U20 Championships Day Two Japanese Results

Working together to execute an aggressive frontrunning team strategy born from failure two years ago in Bydgoszcz , 2018 Asian U20 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Tanaka and 2018 Asian Junior Cross Country gold medalist Yuna Wada opened a massive lead over the African Junior Cross Country medalist Ethiopian duo of Meselu Berhe and Tsige Gebreselama in the early going of the Tampere World U20 Championships women's 3000 m. Tanaka took the lead from the gun before Wada went out front at 200 m to set a fast pace. Through splits of 3:00 and 3:03 for the first 2000 m, Tanaka kicked hard from 300 m out to close with a 2:51 for Japan's first-ever gold medal in the event, winning in a PB of 8:54.01. Berhe and Gebreselama caught Wada on the back corner but weren't even close to matching Tanaka, taking 2nd and 3rd in PBs just under the 9-minute mark. Wada just held off Kenyan Jenali Jemutai Yego for 4th in 9:00.50, seeming happy in post-race interviews to have helped a teammate ...
Post a Comment
Read more