Skip to main content

Ohara and Wanjiru Negative Split Way to Wins at 35th Anniversary Sanyo Ladies Road Race

by Brett Larner


Japan's Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) and Kenyan Rosemary Wanjiru (Team Starts) went it alone to win the 35th anniversary Sanyo Ladies' Road Race half marathon and 10 km divisions with strong negative split runs.

After a slow 17:00 first 5 km in the half Ohara got to work, covering the next 5 km in 16:24 and opening a 16-second lead over a pack of nine led by Rio Olympics marathoner Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku).  From there she never faltered, her pace holding steady all the way to a 1:10:03 win.  38 seconds behind, Misaki Kato (Team Kyudenko) took 2nd in 1:10:42 with relative newcomer Ayaka Fujimoto (Team Kyocera) 3rd in 1:11:20.  Ito faded to 5th in 1:11:39 just ahead of London Olympics marathoner Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya).  Invited Australians Eloise Wellings and Cassie Fien were both DNFs, Fien dropping out before 5 km and Wellings before 10 km.


In the 10 km Wanjiru was out front from the beginning, hitting 5km in 16:11 with a 12-second lead over teammate Grace Kimanzi (Team Starts).  Turning it on in the second half she covered the return trip in 15:53 to score her second-straight Sanyo win in 32:04, one second slower than last year.  Kimanzi, the 2013-14 Sanyo winner, also negative splitted, taking 2nd in 32:21.  Kato's teammate Mariam Waithera (Team Kyudenko) was 3rd in 33:09, just holding off top Japanese woman Kanayo Miyata (Team Yutaka Giken).

35th Anniversary Sanyo Ladies Road Race
Okayama, 12/23/16

Yuko Arimori Cup Half Marathon
1. Rei Ohara (Tenmaya) - 1:10:04
2. Misaki Kato (Kyudenko) - 1:10:42
3. Ayaka Fujimoto (Kyocera) - 1:11:20
4. Ayano Ikemitsu (Kagoshima Ginko) - 1:11:36
5. Mai Ito (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:11:39
6. Risa Shigetomo (Tenmaya) - 1:11:47
7. Yukari Ishizawa (Edion) - 1:11:54
8. Sayo Nomura (Daiichi Seimei) - 1:12:10
9. Misato Horie (Noritz) - 1:12:30
10. Ai Utsunomiya (Miyazaki Ginko) - 1:13:01
-----
DNF - Cassie Fien (Australia)
DNF - Eloise Wellings (Australia)

Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km
1. Rosemary Monica Wanjiru (Starts)- 32:04
2. Grace Mbuthi Kimanzi (Starts) - 32:21
3. Mariam Waithera Mururi (Kyudenko) - 33:09
4. Kanayo Miyata (Yutaka Giken) - 33:11
5. Yuka Miyazaki (Kyudenko) - 33:27
6. Mai Nishiwaki (Tenmaya) - 33:35
7. Ann Karindi (Toyota Boshoku) - 33:37
8. Fumika Sasaki (Daiichi Seimei) - 33:37
9. Mayuka Toda (Kyocera) - 33:40
10. Rina Yamashita (Kyudenko) - 33:48

© 2016 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

2026 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field

The Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon has great fields this year, so let's get right to it. The women's field has 3 of last year's top 10, winner for the 2nd year in a row and Tokyo CR holder Sutume Asefa Kebede , 3rd-placer and 2025 Chicago winner Hawi Feysa , and 5th-placer and 2025 Berlin winner Rosemary Wanjiru , plus 2024 Valencia winner Megertu Alemu , 2025 Prague winner Bertukan Welde , 2024 Paris winner Mestawut Fikir , 2024 Osaka winner Waganesh Mekasha , former WR holder Brigid Kosgei , and a lot more. Japanese hopes pretty much go to all-time #7 Ai Hosoda , 2:20:31 in Berlin 2024 but who announced this month that she is retiring after Tokyo despite having qualified for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th in Sydney last year. Other internationals include Canadian Malindi Elmore , American Sara Hall , a big Chinese group led by Yuyu Xia , Poland's Aleksandra Brzezińska and Australian Vanessa Wilson . The men's race has 5 of last year's top 1...
4 comments
Read more

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance?  Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance.  This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere.  It was put into place in 1986.  In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made.  Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km.  When a bicycle is u...
2 comments
Read more

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...
2 comments
Read more