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MGC Race Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier - Kensuke Horio

Kensuke Horio

age: 23
sponsor: Toyota
graduated from: Suma Gakuen H.S., Chuo University

best time inside MGC window:
2:10:21, 5th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon

PB: 2:10:21, 5th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon

other PBs:
5000 m: 13:33.51 (2018) 10000 m: 28:34.54 (2016) half marathon: 1:01:57 (2018)

marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019)
5th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon, 2:10:21

other major results:
3rd, 2019 Okumusashi Ekiden First Stage (9.9 km), 30:03
25th, 2019 National Men's Ekiden Seventh Stage (13.0 km), 38:39
5th, 2019 Hakone Ekiden Second Stage (23.1 km), 1:07:44
6th, 2018 Hakone Ekiden Qualifier Half Marathon, 1:01:57

The youngest man in the field, Horio was the only university runner to qualify for the MGC Race. Tall and running in glasses, he arrived on the scene his senior year at Chuo University with a 1:01:57 at last fall’s Hakone Ekiden Qualifier half marathon that broke the Chuo school record held by his coach, collegiate and debut marathon record holder Masakazu Fujiwara. He backed that up at Hakone in January with a sub-68 clocking on the 23.1 Second Stage, the mark of the very best

Fujiwara ran 2:08:12 in his debut at Lake Biwa right before graduating from Chuo. In Tokyo this spring, his own debut and last race before graduation, Horio looked determined to beat that, fearlessly going with the 2:06 group in cold and rainy conditions that were too much for national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) and other top dogs. Although he faded off that pace he was the last Japanese man left standing, never giving up the top Japanese position once he took it, impressively holding off the more experienced Masato Imai (Toyota Kyushu) and Takuya Fujikawa (Chugoku Denryoku) over the last 5 km of the race.

After scoring his MGC spot and graduating from Chuo Horio joined the Toyota corporate team to give it a fourth qualifier alongside Yuma Hattori, 2:07:27, Taku Fujimoto, 2:07:57, and Chihiro Miyawaki, 2:08:45. He hasn’t raced much since landing at Toyota and will be facing conditions at the opposite end of the spectrum from the last time he ran in Tokyo. But with a debut behind him that showed grit and potential he could surprise and take down some more of the big names.

Next profile: Daichi Kamino (Cell Source).

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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