Skip to main content

Köln Marathon and Usti nad Labem Half Marathon - Japanese Results

by Brett Larner

Following up on a disappointing showing at last weekend's Great North Run and Prague Grand Prix 10 km, Japan's corporate league runners underwhelmed again at Sunday's Köln Marathon and Usti nad Labem Half Marathon.  In a race won by Kenya's Anthony Maritim in 2:10:26 in Köln, 2:09:18 marathoner Yuko Matsumiya (Team Hitachi Butsuryu), the twin brother of 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta), could do no better than 2:18:41 for 3rd.  2:15:05 man Kenta Iinuma (Team Sagawa Group) fell well below the professional level, running only 2:23:12 for 4th.  Formerly Japan-based Kenyan Julia Mumbi took the women's race in 2:28:00.

Further east, Japanese results at the Czech Republic's Usti nad Labem mirrored those at the Great North Run, with 1:02 half marathoners Yuya Ito (Team Toyota) and Masamichi Yasuda (Team Aichi Seiko) and their 1:03 counterpart Atsushi Yamazaki (Team Subaru) all clocked leisurely 1:05 times nearly 5 minutes behind winner Adugna Takele (Ethiopia) a week after running around the 30:00 level at the Prague Grand Prix 10 km.  As at the Great North Run the Japanese women in the race performed slightly more seriously, 1:10:26 woman Misato Horie (Team Noritz) running 1:12:29 for 5th and Ayaka Inoue (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) making her European debut in 1:14:59 for 8th.

But taken altogether the results of the four races over the last two weekends show evidence of a troubling attitude in the corporate leagues, particularly among the men, that it's enough to just show up at an overseas race, that how you run when you race internationally doesn't matter in the slightest and that races outside Japan are simply for getting experience, doing laundry, and sightseeing.  Consistent amateur-quality performances certainly don't do much for your country's reputation.  Times have changed, but some things are slow to adapt. 

Köln Marathon
Köln, Germany, 9/14/14
click here for complete results

Men
1. Anthony Maritim (Kenya) - 2:10:26
2. Marcel Brautigam (Germany) - 2:17:55
3. Yuko Matsumiya (Japan/Team Hitachi Butsuryu) - 2:18:41
4. Kenta Iinuma (Japan/Team Sagawa Group) - 2:23:12
5. David Cherop (Uganda) - 2:24:20

Women
1. Julia Mumbi (Kenya) - 2:28:00
2. Shasho Insermu (Ethiopia) - 2:35:36
3. Simret Restle-Apel (Germany) - 2:50:19

Usti nad Labem Half Marathon
Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic, 9/14/14
click here for complete results

Men
1. Adugna Takele (Ethiopia) - 1:00:45
2. Azmeraw Bekele (Ethiopia) - 1:00:58
3. Gefrey Kusuro (Uganda) - 1:01:04
4. Richard Kiprop Mengich (Kenya) - 1:01:19
5. Festus Talam (Kenya) - 1:01:47
-----
8. Yuya Ito (Japan/Team Toyota) - 1:05:13
9. Masamichi Yasuda (Japan/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:05:27
11. Atsushi Yamazaki (Japan/Team Subaru) - 1:05:44

Women
1. Correti Jepkoech (Kenya) - 1:09:35
2. Helah Kiprop (Kenya) - 1:10:48
3. Esther Chemtai Ndiema (Kenya) - 1:10:51
4. Flomena Chepchirchir (Kenya) - 1:11:14
5. Misato Horie (Japan/Team Noritz) - 1:12:29
-----
8. Ayaka Inoue (Japan/Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:14:59

Prague Grand Prix 10 km
Prague, Czech Republic, 9/6/14
click here for complete results

Men
1. Geoffrey Ronoh (Kenya) - 27:28
2. Geoffrey Mutai (Kenya) - 27:32
3. Nicholas Kipchirchir Bor (Kenya) - 27:38
4. Simon Cheprot (Kenya) - 27:41
5. Richard Kiprop Mengich (Kenya) - 27:48
-----
14. Masamichi Yasuda (Japan/Team Aichi Seiko) - 29:44
16. Atsushi Yamazaki (Japan/Team Subaru) - 29:58
17. Yuya Ito (Japan/Team Toyota) - 30:04
18. Yuta Shitara (Japan/Team Honda) - 30:09
19. Shota Hattori (Japan/Team Honda) - 30:20

Women
1. Correti Jepkoech (Kenya) - 31:05
2. Esther Chemtai Ndiema (Kenya) - 31:51
3. Flomena Chepchirchir (Kenya) - 32:30
4. Helah Kiprop (Kenya) - 32:33
5. Lucy Liavoga (Kenya) - 33:12

(c) 2014 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Endo, Nishikawa and Yamakawa Announce Corporate Team Changes

The SG Holdings men's corporate team announced on Oct. 1 that long-distance athletes Hyuga Endo and Yuichiro Nishikawa have joined its roster after leaving the Sumitomo Denko team. Endo, 28, won the Junior Olympics 3000 m while at Koriyama Nishi J.H.S. before going on to Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. where he was the the top Japanese placer in the 5000 m at the National High School Championships 2 years in a row. After graduating from Gakuho Ishikawa he joined the Sumitomo Denko team, winning the National Championships 5000 m in 2021. He won gold at the 2023 Asian Championships and represented Japan at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. "I will give everything I have as part of the team and work hard toward helping it win the New Year Ekiden," he said of his new environment. Of his personal goals he said, "I want to focus on the 5000 m and reach new levels to compete internationally." Nishikawa, 28, was a member of Tokai University 's winning teams at the H...
Post a Comment
Read more

3 Athletes Provisionally Suspended After Positive Drug Tests at Asian Games (updated)

The International Testing Agency announced on Oct. 2 that provisional suspensions have been imposed on two athletes, Kazakhstan's Aiana Bolatbekkyzy in track and field, and Tajikistan's Issamjon Sharifov in tennis, after they tested positive for prohibited substances at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Aichi. Bolatbekkyzy, 19, tested positive for the steroid drostanolone in a sample collected during an in-competition test at the Games. A diuretic drug was found in the sample collected from Sharifov, 23. Update:  On Oct. 3 a third athlete, kurash wrestler Yash Kumar Chauhan  of India, was provisionally suspended after an in-competition test detected the steroid metandienone, the metabolic modulator GW1516, and the stimulant mephentermine in his system. source article: https://www.sanspo.com/article/20261002-X4FJLT5MMZKFND6WXPOESAKETQ/ translated by Brett Larner
Post a Comment
Read more