Skip to main content

Dechasa, Kemboi and Kawauchi Rematch at Stockholm Marathon

Fresh from a men's course record of 2:10:58 at last year's race, the ASICS Stockholm Marathon looks ready for an update to that time on Saturday. Ethiopian-born Shumi Dechasa (Bahrain) leads the field on paper, his best time in the last three years a 2:07:20 at the 2015 Tokyo Marathon followed up by a 5th-place finish at the 2015 Beijing World Championships. He hasn't raced in the two years since then, leaving a question mark by his name. #2-ranked John Kemboi (Kenya) has a 2:08:56 PB from the 2015 Frankfurt Marathon, but in his only race since then, last summer's Gold Coast Airport Marathon, he was a DNF.

In that race Yuki Kawauchi (Japan/ Saitama Pref. Gov't) was 2nd in 2:09:01, putting him at 3rd in the field. Dechasa and Kawauchi have raced twice before, Dechasa beating Kawauchi by over a minute at the 2013 Seoul International Marathon and by more than 3 minutes at the 2014 Hamburg Marathon. A win over Dechasa would be a major boost to Kawauchi's chances for August's London World Championships. Samuel Getachew (Ethiopia) and Samuel Maswai (Kenya) have also both been under the course record within the last three years, increasing the chances of seeing it fall.

In the women's race, Belaynesh Shifera has the fastest recent time at 2:31:08 from the 2015 Barcelona Marathon. Alice Kibor (Kenya) and Sanaa Achahbar (Morocco) are close behind with 2:32 marks from January's Marrakech Marathon, but apart from those performances none of the top three has broken 2:35 any time in the last three years, putting them all in range of 2016 Alpes Martimes Nice-Cannes Marathon winner Konjit Tilahun Biruk (Ethiopia) and 2016 Osaka Marathon winner Yoshiko Sakamoto (Japan/Y.W.C.). Sakamoto beat #1-ranked Shifera as last year's Volksbank Muenster Marathon, meaning a wide-open race in the absence of 7-time winner Isabella Andersson (Sweden).

39th ASICS Stockholm Marathon Elite Field Highlights
Stockholm, Sweden
times listed are best within last three years except where noted
Kawauchi and Sakamoto appear with support from JRN

Men
Shumi Dechasa (Bahrain) - 2:07:20 (Tokyo 2015)
John Kemboi (Kenya) - 2:08:56 (Frankfurt 2015)
Yuki Kawauchi (Japan) - 2:09:01 (Gold Coast 2016)
Samuel Getachew (Ethiopia) - 2:09:44 (Rabat 2017)
Samuel Maswai (Kenya) - 2:10:18 (Berlin 2014)
Abdellatif Meftah (France) - 2:11:11 (Paris 2015)
Samuel Kalalel (Kenya) - 2:11:48 (Metz 2016)
Michael Mutai (Kenya) - 2:12:12 (Hong Kong 2016)
Ronny Kiboss (Kenya) - 2:12:18 (Hefei 2014)
Urgesa Kedir (Ethiopia) - 2:12:19 (Pune 2017)
Fikadu Girma (Ethiopia) - 2:12:28 (Beirut 2014)
Gezahegn Alemayehu (Ethiopia) - 2:12:42 (Marrakech 2015)
Alex Chesakit (Uganda) - 2:13:06 (Tours 2015)
Daniel Komen (Kenya) - 2:14:20 (Chongqinq 2015)
Eric Kering (Kenya) - 2:15:42 (Linz 2017)
Japhet Kipkorir (Kenya) - 2:15:49 (Taipei 2016)
Michael Kipyego (Kenya) - 2:16:54 (Toronto Waterfront 2015)

Women
Belaynesh Shifera (Ethiopia) - 2:31:08 (Barcelona 2015)
Alice Kibor (Kenya) - 2:32:28 (Marrakech 2017)
Sanaa Achahbar (Morocco) - 2:32:36 (Marrakech 2017)
Konjit Tilahun Biruk (Ethiopia) - 2:35:35 (Rome 2017)
Yoshiko Sakamoto (Japan) - 2:36:02 (Osaka 2016)

text and photo © 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more

CHN and JPN National Records Go Down - Weekend Track Update

There weren't any Japanese athletes in action at the Rabat Diamond League meet Sunday, but 2 lower-tier domestic meets produced new national records. At the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama, Samuel Kibathi (Toyota) led the top 5 in the men's 10000 m under 28 minutes in 27:39.97. In 3rd, China's Wenjie Wang took just over a second off his own NR from the same meet last year, setting a new record of 27:47.53. His teammate Haoran Tang was 6th in a 28:27.44 PB, with the top Japanese time in the race being a 28:33.39 for 8th from Jin Yuasa (Toyota). Amazingly, Wang and Tang were back the next day on day 2 of the Nittai meet, Wang running a PB of 13:35.58 for 4th in the A-heat and Tang winning the B-heat in a PB of 13:38.80. Isaac Ndiema took the A-heat in 13:26.49, with the fastest Japanese time going to Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu) with a 13:35.94 for 5th behind Wang. Other Nittai highlights: Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) won a photo finish against Yua Nagamori ...
1 comment
Read more

Batt-Doyle and Strintzos Break Records at Launceston Half

Australians Isobel Batt-Doyle and Haftu Strintzos turned in record-breaking performances to win the McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania. Running with a private male pacer, NR holder Batt-Doyle dusted the field with the fastest half marathon ever by an Australian woman on Australian soil, a 1:08:46 CR that put her 2 and a half minutes ahead of runner-up Genevieve Gregson . Last year's runner-up Yumi Yoshikawa was almost a minute back from Gregson in 3rd in 1:12:03, but was almost run down by club runner Ayaka Shimoyamada . Starting slow in her international debut, Shimoyamada moved up from 7th over the 2nd half of the race to finish 4th in 1:12:06, kicking hard in the home straight to try to catch Yoshikawa and momentarily blacking out after finishing. Kaho Onishi was 7th in 1:12:45 in her own international debut. The men's half had pacing set at 2:53/km to try to deliver the first-ever sub-61 half marathon on Australian soil. CR holde...
Post a Comment
Read more