Furuse and Godana Win Nagano Marathon

Wind and rain hit the 20th anniversary Nagano Marathon hard enough to slow things down, Japan's Asami Furuse (Kyocera) and Ethiopian Abdela Godana taking the top spots in the women's and men's races.

Coached by former men's half marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato, Furuse and teammate Saki Tokoro were part of a lead group of five women that set out on low 2:33 pace. Kenyan Beatrice Jepkemboi dropped off he group near 20 km and Yukiko Okuno (Shiseido) did the same a few minutes later, leaving the Kyocera duo to face remaining Kenyan Pauline Wangui over the second half.

Tokoro cracked just before 30 km and Wangui around 32 km, leaving Furuse to push on alone to an evenly-paced 2:34:09. Wangui faded to 4th, run down first by Tokoro and then by Okuno. Tokoro made it a 1-2 finish for Kyocera, another success for Sato is his short coaching career to date. 4th last year, former Tenmaya runner Aki Otagiri moved up from the second pack to take the 5th spot this time out.

Godana went straight to the front of the large men's lead pack, leading through 5 km on 2:11-flat pace. The pace picked up just enough that 20 km it was down to five, Kenyan Julius Keter and Japanese runners Kyota Yabushita (Osaka Gas), Yuki Munakata (Kanebo) and Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) hanging on to Godama through a 1:05:22 halfway split.

Munakata, coached by former marathon national record holder Toshinari Takaoka, slipped back over 20 seconds behind the group by 25 km, but as the lead pack splintered over the next 5 km he overtook Keter and Yabusthia to move back into 3rd, still just over 20 seconds behind Godana and Ichida. Over the final 5 km Godna shook Ichida off, taking 1st unchallenged in 2:13:54. Munakata ran Ichida down just before 40 km, finishing 2nd overall in 2:14:21. Ichida was 21 seconds back in 3rd, the only top-placing runner male or female to run a PB in the tough conditions.

20th Nagano Marathon

Nagano, 4/15/18
click here for complete results

Women
1. Asami Furuse (Kyocera) - 2:34:09
2. Saki Tokoro (Kyocera) - 2:36:21
3. Yukiko Okuno (Shiseido) - 2:36:44
4. Pauline Wangui (Kenya) - 2:39:31
5. Aki Otagiri (Takemura) - 2:44:16
6. Shiori Shimomura (Comody Iida) - 2:46:44
7. Yumiko Kinoshita (SWAC) - 2:48:33
8. Yuka Yamagami (Mie T&F Assoc.) - 2:54:59
9. Shiho Asada (Hachijuni) - 2:55:32
10. Seika Iwamura (Kumamoto T&F Assoc.) - 2:56:20

Men
1. Abdela Godana (Ethiopia) - 2:13:54
2. Yuki Munakata (Kanebo) - 2:14:21
3. Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 2:14:42 - PB
4. Kazuya Deguchi (Asahi Kasei) - 2:17:06
5. Ryo Kuchimachi (Subaru) - 2:18:26
6. Shun Imamura (Press Kogyo) - 2:18:27
7. Takuma Shibata (Komori Corp.) - 2:18:39
8. Yusuke Hosokawa (Osaka Gas) - 2:18:55
9. Teppei Suegami (YKK) - 2:19:13
10. Cyrus Njui (Kenya/Cere Sports) - 2:19:32

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview

The Nagoya Women's Marathon , the world's largest women-only marathon and the last race in the selection cycle for September's Tokyo World Championships, happens Sunday. Weather conditions are looking better than what they had in Tokyo and Osaka the last two weekends, 7˚ at the start and rising to 12˚ with sunny skies. The wind looks a bit stronger than ideal, but it could be worse. Fuji TV has the live broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. Sunday local time, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch the TVer streaming . One option for a leaderboard is here , and another here . We'll have some coverage on @JRNLive . Just like last time around there are three Ethiopian and Kenyan-born athletes at the top list, this time it being sub-2:20 women Sheila Chepkirui , winner in NYC last year, and Ruti Aga , winner in Xiamen in January, and last year's Nagoya runner-up Eunice Chebichii Chumba . But last year Yuka Ando still pulled off the win, so there's a c...

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...

japan running news

Search This Blog