Skip to main content

Nageeye and Saina Win Marugame Half, Suzuki 1:07:55 Debut for All-Time Japanese #3



It was one of those magical Marugame days when everything, almost everything, went right, when despite an uphill second half everyone, almost everyone, ran a PB they'll probably never touch again. Defending Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon winner Betsy Saina (Kenya) taking over a minute off her best to beat the debuting Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) to the line 1:07:49 to 1:07:55, Suzuki's time landing her at all-time #3 on the Japanese charts. 41-year-old 3rd-placer Sinead Diver (Australia) running a masters' world record 1:08:55. And more down the line.

And on the men's side, Abdi Nageeye (Netherlands) knocking almost two minutes off his best to outrun former Ageo City Half Marathon course record holder Simon Kariuki (Nihon Yakka Univ.) over the last 5 km for a national record 1:00:24 to Kariuki's 1:00:43 PB. 3rd-placer Jack Rayner (Australia) narrowly holding off a fast-closing pack of five Japanese collegiate and corporate men in 1:01:36 with all five behind him finishing in 1:01:45 to 1:01:46. Two other Japanese men under 62, with Rayner's compatriot Joel Tobin-White (Australia) just missing out in a major PB of 1:02:03. Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu), twin brother of national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda), having his best run in about three years with a 1:02:04 right behind Tobin-White. And more down the line.

Not everything was perfect. Domestic favorite Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei), a sub-61 man self-assessed in PB shape with a last shot at making the 2020 Olympic marathon trials a month away in Tokyo, tripped early on and was trampled, staggering to his feet a few seconds later and limping but soon dropping out. 2:08 Olympic trials qualifier Yuki Sato (Nissin Shokuhin) likewise out in the early going after a fall of his own. But overall Marugame, where the 2012 running was the deepest half marathon in history with 76 men under 1:04, delivered again on what it does best, and with nine university men breaking under 1:03 led by Aoyama Gakuin University teammates Takato Suzuki and Keita Yoshida in 1:01:45 and 1:01:46, there's bound to be still more down the line.

Aoyama Gakuin runners were also heavily represented at Yokohama's Kanagawa Marathon, but the top spot unexpectedly went to Kei Tsuboi (Hosei Univ.), who ran most of the race in a breakaway trio with AGU's Yuya Yoshida and Takayuki Iida before breaking away late in the race to win in 1:03:40. Yoshida was next in 1:03:53 with Iida rounding out the top three in 1:04:01. Farther north in Ibaraki, members of the Chuo Gakuin University team went 1-2 at the Moriya Half Marathon, with CGU's Daichi Takasago 1st in 1:05:12. Overseas, Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) won the Surf City Half Marathon in 1:03:00 with Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) 2nd in 1:03:01.

Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon

Marugame, Kagawa, 2/3/19
complete results

Women
1. Betsy Saina (Kenya) - 1:07:49 - PB
2. Ayuko Suzuki (Japan/Japan Post) - 1:07:55 - debut
3. Sinead Diver (Australia) - 1:08:55 - PB
4. Charlotte Purdue (Great Britain) - 1:09:46 - PB
5. Rachel Cliff (Canada) - 1:10:28
6. Mao Ichiyama (Japan/Wacoal) - 1:10:43
7. Rui Aoyama (Japan/Univ. Ent.) - 1:12:38
8. Mei Matsuyama (Japan/Noritz) - 1:12:54 - PB
9. Yuko Mizuguchi (Japan/Denso) - 1:13:07
10. Keiko Nogami (Japan/Sysmex) - 1:13:28

Men
1. Abdi Nageeye (Netherlands) - 1:00:24 - NR
2. Simon Kariuki (Kenya/Nihon Yakka Univ.) - 1:00:43 - PB
3. Jack Rayner (Australia) - 1:01:36
4. Takato Suzuki (Japan/Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:45 - PB
5. Masao Kizu (Japan/Kanebo) - 1:01:45 - PB
6. Keita Yoshida (Japan/Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:46 - debut
7. Gen Hachisuka (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 1:01:46 - PB
8. Takuya Fujikawa (Japan/Chugoku Denryoku) - 1:01:46 - PB
9. Yuta Takahashi (Japan/Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:01:52 - PB
10. Ryu Takaku (Japan/Yakult) - 1:01:58 - PB
11. Joel Tobin-White (Australia) - 1:02:03 - PB
12. Keita Shitara (Japan/Hitachi Butsuryu) - 1:02:04
13. Akihiro Gunji (Japan/Tokai Univ.) - 1:02:07 - PB
14. Yuta Shimoda (Japan/GMO) - 1:02:08 - PB
15. Tsukasa Koyama (Japan/Subaru) - 1:02:09 - PB
16. Yuma Higashi (Kyudenko) - 1:02:11 - debut
17. Atsumi Ashiwa (Japan/Honda) - 1:02:12 - PB
18. Wataru Ueno (Japan/Honda) - 1:02:15 - PB
19. Shohei Kurata (Japan/GMO) - 1:02:15 - PB
20. Tadashi Isshiki (Japan/GMO) - 1:02:15
21. Kota Fujiki (Japan/Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:17 - PB
22. Sota Hoshi (Japan/Fujitsu) - 1:02:23
23. Taisei Nakamura (Japan/Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:24 - PB
24. Toshinori Watanabe (Japan/GMO) - 1:02:24 - PB
25. Naoki Saita (Japan/NTN) - 1:02:25 - PB
-----
DNF - Evans Cheruiyot (Kenya)
DNF - Shadrack Kiplagat (Kenya)
DNF - Kenta Murayama (Japan/Asahi Kasei)
DNF - Yuki Sato (Japan/Nissin Shokuhin)

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...
3 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .
Post a Comment
Read more