Skip to main content

Kikuchi and Takenaka Join Farah, Kiprotich, Kiplagat and Keitany at Sept. 7 Great North Run

by Brett Larner
photos by rikujolove

2014 Copenhagen World Half Marathon Japanese national team members Masato Kikuchi (Team Konica Minolta) and Risa Takenaka (Team Shiseido) will join London Olympics and Moscow World Championships 5000 m and 10000 m double gold medalist Mo Farah (GBR), London and Moscow marathon gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich (Uganda), Daegu and Moscow World Championships marathon gold medalist Edna Kiplagat (Kenya), Birmingham World Half Marathon gold medalist Mary Keitany (Kenya) and others at the Sept. 7 Great North Run half marathon in Newcastle, U.K.

Kikuchi, formerly captain of Meiji University's Hakone Ekiden team, has broken 62 minutes for the half marathon three times so far this year including a 1:01:17 PB for 2nd at February's National Corporate Half Marathon Championships and a 1:01:23 at March's Copenhagen World Half Marathon, where he was the only athlete born outside Africa to make the top 25.  Takenaka, a former captain of National University Women's Ekiden champion Ritsumeikan University, made her half marathon debut at this year's National Corporate Half in 1:10:10 for 2nd, following up with a 1:10:30 at the World Half to help the Japanese women win the team bronze medal.

2014 National Track and Field Championships men’s 1500 m winner Keisuke Tanaka (Team Fujitsu) and 2013 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon winner Hiroaki Sano (Team Honda) will also race with support from JRN, along with Takamitsu Hashimoto (Team Komori Corporation), Sho Matsueda (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) and Haruna Takada (Team Yamada Denki).

With over 60,000 participants making it the largest half marathon in the world, the Great North Run this year will celebrate its 1 millionth finisher, the first race in the world to reach that milestone. It will be broadcast live on the BBC.

Risa Takenaka (Team Shiseido)
PB: 1:10:10 (2014 National Corporate Half Marathon)
17th, 2014 World Half Marathon - 1:10:30

Haruna Takada (Team Yamada Denki)
PB: 1:11:46 (2014 National Corporate Half Marathon)

Masato Kikuchi (Team Konica Minolta)
PB: 1:01:17 (2014 National Corporate Half Marathon)
18th, 2014 World Half Marathon - 1:01:23

Keisuke Tanaka (Team Fujitsu)
PB: 1:02:38 (2014 National Corporate Half Marathon)
2014 national 1500 m champion
2010 national university 1500 m champion

Hiroaki Sano (Team Honda)
PB: 1:02:40 (2014 Sendai International Half Marathon)
top Japanese man, 2013 Chicago Marathon - 2:10:29
1st, 2013 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon - 2:12:14 (debut)

Sho Matsueda (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki)
PB: 1:02:41 (2013 Marugame International Half Marathon)

Takamitsu Hashimoto (Team Komori Corp.)
PB: 1:03:13 (2014 National Corporate Half Marathon)
anchor, 2007 National High School Ekiden champion Sendai Ikuei H.S.

(c) 2014 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
photos (c) 2014 M. Kawaguchi, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...
3 comments
Read more

'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 .
Post a Comment
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more