Skip to main content

Sakai Over Tanigawa in 1:02:54 for Tamana Half Win

http://mainichi.jp/sports/news/20150309k0000m050030000c.html

translated by Brett Larner

At the 66th Kanaguri Hai Tamana Half Marathon on Mar. 8 starting and finishing in front of Tamana City Hall in Kumamoto, invited athlete Koichi Sakai (Team Fujitsu) scored his first win in 1:02:54.  Just 4 seconds back in 2nd was Tomohiro Tanigawa (Team Konica Minolta), with Keijiro Mogi (Team Asahi Kasei) 3rd.  Still recovering from an injury to his left calf two weeks ago, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) was 24th in 1:06:37.

Sakai won the race with an early move.  "I don't have much speed, so if it comes down to a last kick I can't win," he said of the surge he threw in at 17 km to pull away from the seven-man lead pack and open a 4-second lead over Tanigawa.  With a thick and chunky build unusual for a distance runner, the 28-year-old Sakai has had success as a road racer ever since his days at Komazawa University.  Sakai was not one of Fujitsu's starting members for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national championships, but in today's race, he said, "I was in good shape."  Sakai's next race is April's Nagano Marathon where he is targeting his PB of 2:14:29.

Kawauchi commented, "I lost touch with the lead group in the first half.  The last part was decent, but my overall time wasn't as good as I expected so I need to rethink my goals for next week's Seoul International Marathon."

66th Kanaguri Hai Tamana Half Marathon
Tamana, Kumamoto, 3/8/15
click here for complete results

Men's Half Marathon
1. Koichi Sakai (Team Fujitsu) - 1:02:54
2. Tomohiro Tanigawa (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:02:58
3. Keijiro Mogi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 1:03:11
4. Kazuki Iwanaga (Team Kyudenko) - 1:03:22
5. Kento Otsu (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:29
-----
24. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:06:37

Women's Half Marathon
1. Noriko Higuchi (Team Wacoal) - 1:17:01

Women's 10 km
1. Erika Ikeda (Team Higo Ginko) - 33:20
2. Kyoka Nakagawa (Kumamoto Shinai Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 33:25
3. Rina Yamashita (Oita Tomei H.S.) - 33:44
4. Yuka Koga (Juhachi Ginko) - 34:04
5. Haruna Maekawa (Juhachi Ginko) - 34:11

High School Boys' 10 km
1. Yuma Eda (Kokura H.S.) - 30:17
2. Yusuke Baba (Kuma Kogyo H.S.) - 30:17
3. Takeshi Nishida (Fukuoka Kogyo H.S.) - 30:18
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...
1 comment
Read more

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...
41 comments
Read more

Chisato Fukushima Selected as First Women`s 100 m Olympian in 56 Years

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080706-00000027-yom-spo http://www.47news.jp/CN/200807/CN2008070601000467.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On July 6 Rikuren announced that it has added women`s 100 m runner Chisato Fukushima (20, Hokkaido HiTec AC) to the Beijing Olympic team. Fukushima will become the first Japanese woman to compete in the Olympic 100 m since Ayako Yoshikawa ran in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Fukushima broke the Olympic B-standard of 11.42 with her national record-tying 11.36 mark at April`s Oda Memorial Meet. Although she won June`s National Track and Field Championships, Fukushima was not initially selected for the team as she did not meet the Olympic A-standard. In light of her victory at today`s Nambu Memorial Meet in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Rikuren reversed its decision and added her to the Olympic team lineup. Fukushima reacted to the news of her Beijing ticket by saying, "It hasn`t really hit me that it`s real yet. I would be honored to be the tri...
Post a Comment
Read more