Whatever his plan, Shitara was swallowed up by the second pack, a good turn of events as it was travelling ahead of Japanese national record pace on track for just sub-2:06. Shitara hung with that group through 25 km before his projected time started to creep away, drifting to high-2:06 pace by 30 km, high-2:07 by 35 km, and high-2:08 by 40 km. In the end he was well short of Toshinari Takaoka's 2:06:16 national record, but with a 2:09:03 for 6th Shitara took 24 seconds off his best with the fastest Japanese men's performance in Berlin since Takayuki Inubushi's then-NR 2:06:57 in 1999. And just 8 days after the greatest half marathon performance in Japanese history.
『ベルリンマラソン動画 設楽悠太 編』 pic.twitter.com/DEkKAsEtZC— Rolows (@Rolows_13) September 25, 2017
His Honda teammate Hiroaki Sano led the Berlin-experienced Koji Gokaya (JR Higashi NIhon) and fellow sub-61 half marathoner Masato Kikuchi (Team Konica Minolta) on a more conservative, steady pace around 2:10:30 until 30 km, after which point Kikuchi started to slip. Gokaya, like Sano a one-time sub-2:10 runner to date, was next, leaving Sano to gut out a 2:11:24 for 7th. Gokaya was good for 2:14:28 for 13th, with Kikuchi marking a two-minute improvement over his 2017 Tokyo Marathon debut in 2:15:32.
Shitara's time was the 9th sub-2:10 of the year by a Japanese man. Along with Takuya Noguchi (Konica Minolta) and Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) at July's Gold Coast Airport Marathon he was the third to do it outside Japan this year, the most in a single year since 1986. At least four more international marathons and one domestic marathon could see additions to that list, meaning a possible record-setting year for depth at the front end of Japanese men's marathoning. With 2:09 marathons in his first two times out the gate Shitara is one of the ones leading that charge.
Berlin Marathon
Berlin, Germany, 9/24/17click here for complete results
Men
1. Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) – 2:03:32
2. Guya Adola (Ethiopia) – 2:03:46 – debut
3. Mosinet Geremew (Ethiopia) – 2:06:09 - PB
4. Felix Kandie (Kenya) – 2:06:13
5. Vincent Kipruto (Kenya) – 2:06:14
6. Yuta Shitara (Japan/Honda) – 2:09:03 – PB
7. Hiroaki Sano (Japan/Honda) – 2:11:24
8. Ryan Vail (U.S.A.) – 2:12:40
9. Liam Adams (Australia) – 2:12:52 - PB
10. Jonny Mellor (Great Britain) – 2:12:57 - PB
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13. Koji Gokaya (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) – 2:14:28
17. Masato Kikuchi (Japan/Konica Minolta) – 2:15:32 – PB
Women
1. Gladys Cherono (Kenya) – 2:20:23
2. Ruti Aga (Ethiopia) - 2:20:41 - PB
3. Valary Ayabei (Kenya) – 2:20:54 - PB
4. Helen Tola (Ethiopia) - 2:22:51 - PB
5. Anna Hahner (Germany) - 2:28:32
6. Catherine Bertone (Italy) - 2:28:34 - PB
7. Sonia Samuels (Great Britain) - 2:29:34
8. Azucena Diaz (Spain) - 2:30:31
9. Catarina Ribeiro (Portugal) - 2:33:13
10. Kim Dillen (Netherlands) - 2:33:24 - PB
photo © 2017 Horst Milde, all rights reserved
text © 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Comments
Shitara would probably have run faster with the half, but then he might not be a national record holder today.