Sakamoto 7th in Xiamen, Mwangi Breaks Hong Kong All-Comers Record

Sakamoto 7th in Xiamen, Mwangi Breaks Hong Kong All-Comers Record - Weekend Overseas Road Race Results

The year's international road racing circuit kicked off Sunday with two races in Asia featuring top-level Japanese athletes. At the C&D Xiamen Marathon in China, ten Japanese athletes ranked in the women's and men's Asian top 100 ran with support from JRN as part of Xiamen's bid to become the first race worldwide to qualify for the IAAF's new platinum road race label.

2016 Osaka Marathon winner and mother of three Yoshiko Sakamoto (Y.W.C.) placed highest among them, taking 7th in 2:39:00 with 2018 Osaka runner-up Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) 9th in 2:42:39, 2017 Osaka winner Yumiko Kinoshita (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) 10th in 2:43:56, and 2018 Geneva Marathon runner-up Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) 12th in 2:45:32.

Running just two days after Josai University had a disappointing 20th-place finish at the Hakone Ekiden, its assistant coach Shingo Igarashi was the top-placing Japanese man at 15th in 2:20:45. Dejene Debele (Ethiopia) won the men's race for the second year in a row in 2:09:26 with Medina Deme Armino (Ethiopia) taking the women's race in 2:27:45.

Just down the coast in Hong Kong, the Lok Wah Runners Club staged the first running of its new Lok Wah 100 Minutes Half Marathon, an event designed to encourage faster times in the upper end of Hong Kong's dedicated running community. Over a three-lap course Joseph Mwangi Ngare (Kenya) outran a field including 2018 Hofu Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), four other Kenyans and the local best to win in 1:05:56, the fastest time ever on Hong Kong soil. Kawauchi was 2nd in 1:06:07 with Bernard Kiplangat Kibilo (Kenya) 3rd in 1:08:54.

2019 C&D Xiamen Marathon

Xiamen, China, 1/6/19
complete results

Women
1. Medina Deme Armino (Ethiopia) - 2:27:25
2. Shasho Insemu (Ethiopia) - 2:27:42
3. Fantu Eticha (Ethiopia) - 2:29:55
4. He Yinli (China) - 2:33:28
5. Askale Alemayehu (Ethiopia) - 2:33:41
-----
7. Yoshiko Sakamoto (Japan) - 2:39:00
9. Haruka Yamaguchi (Japan) - 2:42:39
10. Yumiko Kinoshita (Japan) - 2:43:56
12. Hisae Yoshimatsu (Japan) - 2:45:32
23. Momoko Tanaka (Japan) - 3:04:23

Men
1. Dejene Debele (Ethiopia) - 2:09:26
2. Atewek Mesfin (Ethiopia) - 2:09:28
3. Birhan Nebebew (Ethiopia) - 2:09:36
4. Chele Dechasa (Ethiopia) - 2:09:43
5. Belachew Amerta (Ethiopia) - 2:09:52
-----
15. Shingo Igarashi (Japan) - 2:20:45
19. Kansuke Morihashi (Japan) - 2:24:29
20. Tatsunori Hamasaki (Japan) - 2:24:29
22. Asuka Tanaka (Japan) - 2:25:58
-----
DNF - Kenichi Jiromaru (Japan)

Lok Wah 100 Minutes Half Marathon

Sha Tin, Hong Kong, 1/6/19
complete results

Men
1. Joseph Mwangi Ngare (Kenya) - 1:05:56 - ACR
2. Yuki Kawauchi (Japan) - 1:06:07
3. Bernard Kiplangat Kibilo (Kenya) - 1:08:54
4. Willy Kipkemoi Rotich (Kenya) - 1:08:54
5. Eliud Kiplimo Lelei (Kenya) - 1:10:15

Women
1. Julie Beatty - 1:25:19
2. Amy Mumford - 1:26:02
3. Mei Yan Wong - 1:27:48
4. Jill Czarnik - 1:30:57
5. Chi Ling Mok - 1:32:33

Xiamen photo ©2019 Mika Tokairin, all rights resetved
text and Lok Wah photo ©2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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 ...

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

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...

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