Skip to main content

Shimokado and Obare Win at Matsue Ladies' Half Marathon

http://www.sankei.com/region/news/160321/rgn1603210010-n1.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On a course through the oldest and most scenic parts of town, the Matsue Ladies' Half Marathon held its 37th running on Mar. 20.  Serving as the National University Women's Half Marathon Championships, Matsue hosted 2363 runners from elementary school students to the corporate leagues to the best of the university circuit.  Local supporters turned out all along the course to cheer on the women whose run welcomes spring back to Matsue every year.

The Matsue Ladies Road Race featured four divisions starting one after another, the half marathon followed by the 3.2 km division, a 1.0 km children's race and the 10 km division.  153 women including 94 university runners were entered in the half marathon.  Taking control of the race after just 3 km, invited athlete Miharu Shimokado (Team Shimamura) won in 1:11:48.  "I was able to make it my own race," she said confidently.  Shimokado used Matsue as a tuneup for next month's Boston Marathon.  Runner-up Misaki Ogata (Matsuyama Univ.) was the top collegiate finisher in 1:11:50, taking the National University title by 3 seconds over teammate Ayumi Uehara.

Kenyan Doricah Obare (Team Hitachi), a regular in Matsue, broke the course record in the 10 km, winning in 32:33.  In both the half marathon and 10 km divisions the cutoff times were extended by 20 minutes, allowing many more amateur runners to take part.  Each of them running her own race and her own pace, they enjoyed the scenic castle and waterside views that Matsue has to offer before sampling nearby Lake Shinji's famous freshwater clams post-race.

37th Matsue Ladies' Half Marathon
Matsue, Shimane, 3/20/16
click here for complete results

Women's Half Marathon
1. Miharu Shimokado (Shimamura) - 1:11:48
2. Misaki Ogata (Matsuyama Univ.) - 1:11:50
3. Ayumi Uehara (Matsuyama Univ.) - 1:11:53
4. Yomogi Akasaka (Meijo Univ.) - 1:11:55
5. Honoka Tanaike (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 1:12:21
6. Sakie Arai (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 1:12:45
7. Wakana Itsuki (Fukuoka Univ.) - 1:12:49
8. Mizuki Tanimoto (Tenmaya) - 1:13:06
9. Kanade Furuya (Matsuyama Univ.) - 1:13:52
10. Maho Shimizu (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 1:14:42

Women's 10 km
1. Doricah Obare (Kenya/Hitachi) - 32:33 - CR
2. Yuko Kikuchi (Hokuren) - 33:16
3. Rina Kurosawa (Hitachi) - 34:44

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

Ngetich Breaks CR, Murayama and Sasaki Make U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10k

WR holder Agnes Ngetich  soloed a fast one at the 54th edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10k, leading inside the first mile and pulling away the rest of the race to run a 30:07 CR for the win, the fastest time ever on U.S. soil albeit on a slightly net downhill course. On a warm day that saw over 10,000 women finish  Tsigie Gebreselama  was on her own most of the way too, a distant 2nd in 30:53 and 17 seconds up on past champ Hellen Obiri . Further back, 2026 World University Cross Country bronze medalist Amisa Murayama  and 2025 Morinomiyako Ekiden 3rd leg CR breaker Nazuki Sasaki  from 2025 National University Women's Ekiden runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University  made their U.S. debuts. Murayama was targeting the fastest-ever Japanese time at the Mini, 32:37, but struggled on the hills just before 5 km and late in the race, fading to finish 23rd in 34:08. Sasaki, recovering from a stress reaction in her upper back a few months ago, ran a conservative ...

National Track and Field Championships Entry List Highlights

Entry lists are out for next week's National Track and Field Championships in Nagoya, the main selection event for Japan's teams for September's Nagoya Asian Games and Copenhagen World Road Running Championships. Top entries in each event with best time in 2025-26. Asterisks indicate 2025 national champions. Men Men's 100 m *Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 9.99 Sorato Shimizu (Seiryu H.S.) - 10.00 Yuhi Mori (Watanabe Pipe) - 10.00 Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.06 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.08 Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) - 10.08 Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.10 Ryota Suzuki (Suzuki) - 10.11 Naoki Inoue (Osaka Gas) - 10.12 Rikuto Higuchi (Suzuki) - 10.12 Men's 200 m Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 20.45 Aoto Suzuki (Sumitomo Denko) - 20.49 Kota Uematsu (Chuo Univ.) - 20.50 Yuji Michael Orisa (GK Line) - 20.51 Soshi Mizukubo (Miyazaki T&F) - 20.51 Mitsuhiro Numata (Legalis) - 20.58 Seisho Sasaki (Iwate Univ.) - 20.60 Sota Miwa (Koizumi) - 20.61 Naoki Uemoto (Lega...