Skip to main content

Saina and Waweru Win Windy Marugame Half



Kenyans Betsy Saina and Edward Waweru (NTN) took the top spots at the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon's 72nd edition, winning in 1:09:17 and 1:00:31.

Saina was part of a lead group of six led by Japanese national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) that went through the downhill first 5 km in 16:15, a decent 1:08:34 pace aided by a tailwind. Saina accelerated to 16:00 for the next 5 km, and by the halfway turnaround it was down to just her and Ethiopian Ftaw Zeray with the others forming a chase group led by Sara Hall (U.S.A.).

Saina dropped Zeray on the uphill return trip and sailed on alone into the headwind to take the win in 1:09:17. Overcoming a 22-second deficit at halfway, Kaori Morita (Panasonic) blazed the second half to move up to 2nd with just over 1 km to go, holding on to finish in the runner-up position in 1:10:10.  Zeray was 3rd, fading to 1:10:31. Fukushi dropped far off to 7th in 1:13:17, with two-time marathon world champion Edna Kiplagat dropping even further to 12th in 1:13:56.


The men's race saw Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei), the fastest-ever Japanese university man over the half marathon with a 1:00:50 in Marugame in 2014 and the fastest-ever Japanese man on U.S. soil with a 1:00:57 in New York last year, get rough on a field that included world record holder Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) and Japanese national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda). Alone in the first few hundred meters, Murayama took advantage of the downhill and tailwind to go through 5 km in 14:00.  A chase pack of over 20 led by Shitara and Japan-based Kenyan Edward Waweru (NTN) followed 10 seconds behind.

Waweru and Shitara kicked it up a notch heading to the turnaround, catching Murayama to form a lead trio that went through 10 km in 28:01. Turning into the wind both Murayama and Shitara lost touch with Waweru, who stayed on sub-60 pace through 15 km before struggling to deal with the headwind, uphill and sheer exertion, slowing to finish in 1:00:31 but taking the top spot in a PB by over a minute and a half. Shitara, who will return to the Tokyo Marathon for an attack on the national record later this month, likewise stayed on track for sub-60, barely, through 15 km before fading to land 2nd in 1:01:13.

Just past 15 km Murayama was run down by chase group of 7 that included Tadese, 2017World University Games half marathon gold medalist Kei Katanishi (Komazawa Univ.) and Hakone Ekiden star Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.). Down to 5th at 20 km, Murayama delivered the powerful last kick he shares with his twin brother, 10000 m national record holder Kota Murayama (Asahi Kasei), to outkick Ethiopian Bayelign Teshager and WR holder Tadese in the final 100 m for 3rd in 1:01:42. Murayama will run the second marathon of his career a week after Tokyo at the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon.

Along with Shitara and Murayama, Yohei Suzuki (Aisan Kogyo) and Katanishi both cleared 62 minutes for the first time to pick up likely spots on the Japanese national team for next month's Valencia World Half Marathon Championships.

72nd Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon

Marugame, Kagawa, 2/4/18
click here for complete results

Women
1. Betsy Saina (Kenya) - 1:09:17
2. Kaori Morita (Japan/Panasonic) - 1:10:10
3. Ftaw Zeray (Ethiopia) - 1:10:31
4. Jessica Trengove (Australia) - 1:10:59
5. Do Yeon Kim (South Korea) - 1:11:00
6. Sara Hall (U.S.A.) - 1:11:25
7. Kayoko Fukushi (Japan/Wacoal) - 1:13:17
8. Yomogi Akasaka (Japan/Meijo Univ.) - 1:13:44
9. Kanako Takemoto (Daihatsu) - 1:13:51
10. Suk Jeong Lee (South Korea) - 1:13:52
11. Marie Imada (Japan/Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:13:54
12. Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) - 1:13:56
13. Kasumi Yoshia (Japan/Nitori) - 1:13:58
14. Kumiko Otani (Japan/Imabari Zosen) - 1:14:35
15. Nana Sato (Japan/Starts) - 1:15:01

Men
1. Edward Waweru (Kenya/NTN) - 1:00:31
2. Yuta Shitara (Japan/Honda) - 1:01:13
3. Kenta Murayama (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 1:01:42
4. Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) - 1:01:43
5. Bayelign Teshager (Ethiopia) - 1:01:43
6. Dominic Nyairo (Kenya/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:46
7. Joel Mwaura (Kenya/Kurosaki Harima) - 1:01:50
8. Wilson Kiprono Too (Kenya) - 1:01:53
9. Yohei Suzuki (Japan/Aisan Kogyo) - 1:01:53
10. Kei Katanishi (Japan/Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:58
11. Keijiro Mogi (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 1:02:27
12. Takashi Ichida (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 1:02:27
13. Koki Takada (Japan/Sumitomo Denko) - 1:02:29
14. Christopher Hamer (Australia) - 1:02:29
15. Ken Nakayama (Japan/Chuo Univ.) - 1:02:30
16. Yuki Sato (Japan/Nissin Shokuhin) - 1:02:33
17. Daichi Kamino (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 1:02:35
18. Gen Hachisuka (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 1:02:39
19. Hidekazu Hijikata (Japan/Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:47
20. Atsumi Ashiwa (Japan/Honda) - 1:02:49
21. Shintaro Miwa (Japan/NTN) - 1:02:59
22. Dominic Kiptarus (Kenya) - 1:03:04
23. Natsuki Terada (Japan/JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:03:05
24. Hiroaki Sano (Japan/Honda) - 1:03:09
25. Bernard Kimani (Kenya/Yakult) - 1:03:09

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...
2 comments
Read more

JAAF Announces World Road Running Championships Half Marathon Team

The JAAF announced the men's and women's half marathon teams today for this fall's World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen: Women Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon) - 1:09:14 (1st, 2026 Osaka Half) Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:20 (1st, 2026 Nat'l Corp. Half) Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:09:22 (2nd, 2026 Osaka Half) Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 1:09:23 (3rd, 2026 Osaka Half) Men Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:22 (4th, 2026 Marugame Half) Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:26 (5th, 2026 Marugame Half) Neo Namiki (Subaru) - 1:00:29 (6th, 2026 Marugame Half) Daisuke Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 1:00:40 (7th, 2026 Marugame Half) Mile and 5 km teams, if any, will be decided after June's National Track and Field Championships. © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved
Post a Comment
Read more

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...
Post a Comment
Read more