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Flanagan, Kamino, Koech, Makikawa and Mathathi Headline Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon

http://www.shikoku-np.co.jp/sports/local/20150114000155

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Jan. 13 the organizers of the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon released the elite field for the 69th running of the race on Feb. 1.  48 elite men and women including 9 from overseas will make up the front end of what promises to be an exciting race this year.  Former Toyo University Hakone Ekiden star twins Keita Shitara (Team Konica Minolta) and Yuta Shitara (Team Honda) feature in the domestic men's field after making big impacts in their corporate league debuts at this year's New Year Ekiden.  Several members of New Year Ekiden 3rd-placer Nissin Shokuhin also lead the large corporate contingent in the general division.

London Olympics marathoner Arata Fujiwara (Miki House) will return again this year.  Top collegiate names scheduled to run include Daichi Kamino, whose course record run on the 2015 Hakone Ekiden's uphill Fifth Stage set the stage for Aoyama Gakuin University's first-ever Hakone win, Hakone First Stage winner Shogo Nakamura (Komazawa Univ.) and 2013 Marugame Half runner-up Enock Omwamba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.).

The domestic women's field includes 2013 National Corporate Half Marathon 2nd-placer Hanae Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei), 2014 Asian Games marathon 4th-placer Eri Hayakawa (Team Toto), 2013 Yokohama International Women's Marathon runner-up Azusa Nojiri (Hiratsuka Lease), and, going for a second-straight win, Eri Makikawa (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC).

The overseas men's field is strong.  2014 Copenhagen World Half Marathon silver medalist Samuel Tsegaye (Eritrea), 2013 Lisbon Half winner Bernard Koech (Kenya) and last year's winner Martin Mathathi (Suzuki Hamamatsu) feature among 4 men with bests under 60 minutes.  With a best of 1:08, Shalane Flanagan (U.S.A.) tops the women's list alongside 2013 Honolulu Marathon winner Ehitu Kiros (Ethiopia).

Kagawa natives on the list include 2015 Hakone Ekiden First Stage runner Shinichiro Nakamura (Waseda Univ.) and Yuki Kiyama (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) along with Akane Sekino (Imabari Zosen) who represented Kagawa at the Jan. 11 National Women's Ekiden.

This year's race will also features an elementary school ekiden the day before the half marathon.  As usual, last-minute entries for all divisions except the elementary school ekiden will be accepted from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the race stage grounds.  For more information contact the Marugame Civic Sports Center office at 0877-24-6274.

69th Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon 
Elite Field Highlights
Marugame, Kagawa, 2/1/15
click here for complete field listing

Women
Shalane Flanagan (U.S.A.) - 1:08:31
Hanae Tanaka (Japan/Daiichi Seimei) - 1:09:18
Ehitu Kiros (Ethiopia) - 1:09:38
Sayo Nomura (Japan/Daiichi Seimei) - 1:10:03
Madoka Ogi (Japan/Juhachi Ginko) - 1:10:11
Eri Hayakawa (Japan/Toto) - 1:10:13
Zivile Balciunaite (Lithuania) - 1:10:23
Misato Horie (Japan/Noritz) - 1:10:26
Eri Makikawa (Japan/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:10:27
Rui Aoyama (Japan/Univ. Ent.) - 1:10:28
Hiroko Shoi (Japan/Denso) - 1:10:48
Azusa Nojiri (Japan/Hiratsuka Lease) - 1:10:53
Aki Odagiri (Japan/Tenmaya) - 1:11:43
Mao Kiyota (Japan/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:11:50
Asami Furuse (Japan/Kyocera) - 1:12:01
Yoko Aizu (Japan/Shiseido) - 1:12:18
Seika Iwamura (Japan/Higo Ginko) - 1:12:30
Yuko Mizuguchi (Japan/Denso) - 1:13:27
Hitomi Nakamura (Japan/Panasonic) - 1:13:50
Yuki Suganuma (Japan/Smiley Angel AC) - 1:13:56
Eloise Wellings (Australia) - debut - 31:41.31 for 10000 m
Yuka Ando (Japan/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - debut - 32:24.00 for 10000 m
Kaho Tanaka (Japan/Daiichi Seimei) - debut - 32:24.73 for 10000 m
Kanayo Miyata (Japan/Yutaka Giken) - debut - 32:51.00 for 10000 m
Akane Sekino (Japan/Imabari Zosen) - debut - 32:53.44 for 10000 m

Men
Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 58:56a
Bernard Koech (Kenya) - 59:10
Samuel Tsegaye (Eritrea) - 59:21
Fabiano Joseph (Tanzania) - 59:56
Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Aichi Seiko) - 1:00:32
Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Monteroza) - 1:01:06
Enock Omwamba (Kenya/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:15
Masato Kikuchi (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 1:01:17
Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 1:01:21
Arata Fujiwara (Japan/Miki House) - 1:01:34
Hiroto Inoue (Japan/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:39
Keita Shitara (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 1:01:45
Yuta Igarashi (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:01:46
Yuta Shitara (Japan/Honda) - 1:01:48
Yuichiro Ogawa (Japan/NTN) - 1:01:53
Shogo Nakamura (Japan/Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:57
Kazuyoshi Shimozato (Japan/Komori Corp.) - 1:02:00
Yoshihiro Yamamoto (Japan/NTN) - 1:02:03
Edward Waweru (Japan/NTN) - 1:02:08
Kenta Iinuma (Japan/SGH Group) - 1:02:09
Masamichi Yasuda (Japan/Aichi Seiko) - 1:02:10
Tomohiro Shiiya (Japan/Toyota Boshoku) - 1:02:15
Yukihiro Kitaoka (Japan/NTN) - 1:02:17
Yoshihiro Wakamatsu (Japan/Nissin Shokuhin) - 1:02:17
Shuho Dairokuno (Japan/Meiji Univ.) - 1:02:19
Chiharu Takada (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:02:22
Toshikatsu Ebina (Japan/Komori Corp.) - 1:02:23
Takeshi Kumamoto (Japan/Toyota) - 1:02:27
Soichiro Nakamura (Japan/Waseda Univ.) - 1:02:30
Keita Baba (Japan/Honda) - 1:02:34
Charles Wanjohi (Kenya) - 1:02:34
Takahiro Aso (Japan/Aisan Kogyo) - 1:02:36
Hideaki Tamura (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:02:37
Natsuki Terada (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:02:37
Kazuaki Iwami (Japan/Kyudenko) - 1:02:38
Yohei Nishiyama (Japan/Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:02:38
Keisuke Tanaka (Japan/Fujitsu) - 1:02:38
Yoshitaka Iwamizu (Japan/Shiseido) - 1:02:39
Wataru Ueno (Japan/Honda) - 1:02:39
Kenta Kitazawa (Japan/Yachiyo Kogyo) - 1:02:40
Naohiro Yamada (Japan/YKK) - 1:02:40
Hikaru Fujii (Japan/Aisan Kogyo) - 1:02:41
Daichi Kamino (Japan/Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:42
Kosuke Murasashi (Japan/YKK) - 1:02:46
Melaku Abera (Ethiopia/Kurosaki Harima) - 1:02:47
Ryosuke Fukuyama (Japan/Honda) - 1:02:49
Takuya Noguchi (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 1:02:50
Shota Inoue (Japan/Toyota) - 1:02:51
Ryotaro Otani (Japan/Toyota Boshoku) - 1:02:51
Masahiro Miura (Japan/Waseda Univ.) - 1:02:52
Shinichiro Tai (Japan/Fujitsu) - 1:02:54
Shoya Okuno (Japan/Nittai Univ.) - 1:02:56
Takeshi Makabe (Japan/Kurosaki Harima) - 1:02:58
Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/NTN) - 1:03:32
Akinobu Murasawa (Japan/Nissin Shokuhin) - debut - 59:08 for 20 km
Paul Kuira (Kenya/Konica Minolta) - debut - 27:40.43 for 10000 m
Ken Yokote (Japan/Meiji Univ.) - debut - 28:38.73 for 10000 m
Zane Robertson (New Zealand) - debut - 13:13.83 for 5000 m
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