An Update on Eastern European Women in Japan

by Brett Larner

The 4th-place finish by Volha Mazuronak of Belarus at last weekend's London Marathon turned heads around the world. Her time of 2:23:54 may become a national record pending the annulment of times run by Belarussian Alexsandra Duliba following January's announcement of Duliba's suspension on biological passport violations. New York Road Runners professional athlete consultant David Monti was quick to point out Mazuronak's splits, a 1:13:19 first half, 1:10:35 second half and 7:08 for the final 2.195 km split from 40 km to the finish, the fastest closing split in the London women's field and on a par with or better than the 6th through 10th-place men there. Mara Yamauchi, the second-fastest British woman ever in the marathon, wrote an analysis noting the similarity between Mazuronak's splits and those in a 2012 JRN analysis of performances by Eastern European women represented by Russian Andrey Baranov and his Spartanik agency.

Baranov also represented Duliba, who recorded the following performance, facing possible annulment, at the 2014 Boston Marathon:

Aleksandra Duliba/BLR - 6th, 2014 Boston Marathon - 2:21:29
1st half: 1:10:15
2nd half: 1:11:14
last 2.195km: 7:17 (2nd-fastest in field behind only suspended doper Rita Jeptoo)

Below is an update to JRN's 2012 post with other performances by Eastern European Baranov athletes in major Japanese marathons since 2012. As noted, all but one, the slowest one, have been annulled due to biological passport suspensions. Mazuronak's second half and closing split were truly remarkable in that they beat those in every performance below. Coincidentally, she is also represented by Baranov.

Mariya Konovalova/RUS (age 40) - 2nd, 2015 Nagoya Women's Marathon - 2:22:27 (annulled)
1st half: 1:11:08
2nd half: 1:11:19
last 2.195 km: 7:22 (2nd-fastest in field behind only Japanese collegiate NR holder Sairi Maeda)

Tetiana Gamera/UKR - 1st, 2015 Osaka Women's Marathon - 2:22:09 (annulled)
1st half: 1:11:15
2nd half: 1:10:54
last 2.195 km: 7:18 (fastest in field)

Mariya Konovalova/RUS - 1st, 2014 Nagoya Women's Marathon - 2:23:43 (annulled)
1st half: 1:12:34
2nd half: 1:11:09
last 2.195 km: 7:13 (fastest in field)

Tetiana Gamera/UKR - 1st, 2014 Osaka Women's Marathon - 2:24:37 (annulled)
1st half: 1:12:12
2nd half: 1:12:25
last 2.195 km: 7:26 (fastest in field)

Albina Mayorova/RUS - 1st, 2013 Yokohama Women's Marathon - 2:25:55
1st half: 1:13:45
2nd half: 1:12:10
last 2.195 km: 7:43 (fastest in field)

Tetiana Gamera/UKR - 1st, 2013 Osaka Women's Marathon - 2:23:58 (annulled)
1st half: 1:11:40
2nd half: 1:12:18
last 2.195 km: 7:14 (fastest in field)

© 2016 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

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...

Restaurant Owner Selected as Olympic Torchbearer Dies in Fire After Becoming Despondent Over Impact of Coronavirus Crisis (updated)

On the evening of Apr. 30, the 54-year-old male owner of a restaurant in Tokyo's Nerima ward specializing in tonkatsu deep fried pork cutlets died from full-body burns in a fire at the restaurant. The man had been one of the people chosen as a torchbearer for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics torch relay. With the coronavirus crisis causing both the postponement of the Olympics and a loss of business at the restaurant, the man had recently started talking pessimistically about the future to those around him. With evidence of the man's body having been doused in tonkatsu cooking oil, metropolitan police from the Hikarigaoka Police Station are carefully examining the cause of the fire. At around 10:00 p.m. on the 30th, the fire broke out in the tonkatsu restaurant on the first floor of a three-story building. A neighborhood resident who noticed smoke called the fire department. Firefighters found the floor and part of a wall burning, with the man lying on the floor in the customer seat...

Kawauchi Wins Inaugural Kawauchi Half Marathon

http://www.minyu-net.com/sports/running/FM20160501-070419.php translated by Brett Larner 川内優輝ロード pic.twitter.com/rEJk7CQPFV — みとっぽ (黒) (@mitoppo_tmyk) April 30, 2016 Yuki Kawauchi Road in Kawauchi, Fukushima Held to inspire former residents to return to the area after the nearby TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident five years ago, the village of Kawauchi held the first " Kawauchi no Sato Kaeru Half Marathon - From Reconstruction to Creation " on April 30. The course started and finished at the village heliport. 1188 runners from across the country gathered to celebrate the village's revival as they ran through its springtime streets. The event's organizing committee was made up of local government and board of education members with support from the Fukushima Minyu Newspaper and other sponsors. The race's purpose was to transmit the vitality and charm of the reconstructing Kawauchi village to the rest of the nation in hopes of helpin...

japan running news

Search This Blog