Skip to main content

Imai, Kawauchi and Shigetomo Lead Sendai Half Field

http://www.kahoku.co.jp/tohokunews/201604/20160412_14046.html

translated by Brett Larner

On April 11 the organizers of the 26th Sendai International Half Marathon announced the five domestic athletes set to lead the elite field for this year's race on May 8.  Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), a member of the 2011 and 2013 World Championships marathon teams and the bronze medalist in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games marathon, returns to the Sendai Half for the fifth year in a row.  A former Hakone Ekiden star on the uphill Fifth Stage during his days at Juntendo University, Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) is the fastest current Japanese marathoner with a 2:07:39 best.

Others in the field include last year's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon placer Takuya Noguchi (Team Konica Minolta), 2012 London Olympian and 2015 World Championships team member Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya), and this year's Osaka International Women's Marathon runner-up Misato Horie (Team Noritz).

Rio de Janeiro Paralympics team member Hiroyuki Yamamoto leads the four invited athletes in the wheelchair race.  2000 Sydney Olympics gold medalist and former world record holder Naoko Takahashi returns for the fifth time as a special guest runner.  A total of 11,964 people are entered in the half marathon, with 2,820 signed up to take part in the 5 km and 2 km divisions.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

'Kobe 2024: Monday Sees Shocking Wins on the Track and the Field'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-monday-sees-shocking-wins-track-and-field Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .

Five New Championship Records at Japanese Olympic Trials Day Two

Great conditions on the second day of Japan's National Track and Field Championships , U20 National Championships and Paris Olympics trials helped athletes set new National Championship meet records in the women's pole vault, men's 400 mH, men's and women's 1500 m, and men's 5000 m, with three of the five record setters and guaranteeing themselves places on the Paris Olympics team. Complete results here . Women's Pole Vault Final National record holder Misaki Morota cleared her minimum goal, the win in 4.31 m to score enough points to move from 33rd to 32nd in the 32-deep Paris Olympic quota. Morota took two attempts to get over 4.30 m, but on her first try at a Japanese National Championships meet record 4.41 m she got it done. That gave her enough points to move to 30th, but it would take clearing 4.50, 2 cm higher than Morota's NR, to move to 29th. That proved to be out of range, leaving Morota in good position but still waiting to see the outcome of...