Skip to main content

Kiprotich and Barsosio Break Sydney Marathon Course Records, Sasaki and Yamaguchi 3rd and 4th

Despite warm and windy conditions the Blackmores Sydney Marathon saw new course records in both its men's and women's races. Felix Kiprotich (Kenya) led the way in the men's race with the first-ever sub-2:10 clocking on Sydney's challengingly hilly and twisting course, breaking away from a group including Michael Kunyuga (Kenya) and Satoru Sasaki (Asahi Kasei) for the win in 2:09:49.

The top three all broke the course record. Sasaki, a Rio Olympian in the marathon who failed to qualify for today's MGC Race 2020 Olympic trials, could take extra satisfaction from having been 26 seconds faster than MGC winner Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) on a far tougher course. "I was aiming to win," Sasaki told JRN post-race, "but the course was really twisty and it was hard to run. It would have been nice to be a bit faster, but given my current situation and the problems I've had since Lake Biwa last year I think this put me back on my feet and will help me in my next race. Thanks for cheering for me. It was fun."

In the women's race a lead quartet of Africans took it out on track to go five minutes under the course record, almost fast enough to challenge Naoko Takahashi's 2:23:14 Australian all-comers record from the 2000 Sydney Marathon. The pace burned the group down, leaving only Kenyan Stellah Barsosio out front with a male pacer. Barsosio slowed slightly on the infinite twists and turns of the course's last 10 km but was still strong enough to take almost four minute off the course record in 2:24:33. Barsosio's time was so good that runner-up Josephine Chepkoech (Kenya) was almost two minutes under the course record despite being over two minutes behind. Ethiopian-born 3rd-placer Tejitu Chalshissa (Bahrain) just missed the record with a 2:28:22.

Three weeks after likewise just missing the course record at the New Caledonia Marathon, amateur runner Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) was in Sydney in pursuit of her first sub-2:30 clocking with support from JRN. Moving up from 7th to 5th and spending most of the race there on her own, Yamaguchi went through halfway in 1:13:52. Over the second half she moved up to 4th, but the endless sharp turns in the last 10 km wore her down and she faded to a 2:33:09. That was still a PB by over 30 seconds, but it left Yamaguchi disappointed. "I made it to the end safely" she said post-race. "It was a PB but not the kind of time I was shooting for. I have to try again."

Blackmores Sydney Marathon

Sydney, Australia, 9/15/19
complete results

Men
1. Felix Kiprotich (Kenya) - 2:09:49 - CR
2. Michael Kunyuga (Kenya) - 2:10:05 (CR)
3. Satoru Sasaki (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:02 (CR)
4. Elijah Kemboi (Kenya) - 2:12:55
5. Silas Too (Kenya) - 2:13:49

Women
1. Stellah Barsosio (Kenya) - 2:24:33 - CR
2. Josephine Chepkoech (Kenya) - 2:26:43 (CR)
3. Tejitu Chalchissa (Bahrain) - 2:28:22
4. Haruka Yamaguchi (Japan/AC Kita) - 2:33:09 - PB
5. Alice Mason (New Zealand) - 2:38:35

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

CR Holder Teruki Shimada Returns to Launceston Half - Preview and Streaming

Last year's McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania, Australia shaped out into a great Australia vs. Japan dual meet , with Jessica Stenson outrunning Yumi Yoshikawa to take the women's title in a 1:09:51 CR, and Teikyo University school record holder Teruki Shimada executing a tactically brilliant race to drop Isaac Heyne , then-NR holder Brett Robinson , and Teikyo teammate Jinya Ozaki for the win in 1:01:12, just a second off the Australian all-comers record. Marathon NR holder Andy Buchanan took that record down to 1:01:08 at the Gold Coast Half a month later, but its chances of surviving this weekend aren't looking good. Shimada leads last year's top 4 back to Launceston this year, and there's a lot of tough new competition. 2025 National Corporate Half winner Tsubasa Ichiyama , Australia's Haftu Strintzos , new Teikyo record holder Yuta Asakawa and American Ethan Shuley have all run faster that Buchanan's rec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Murayama and Sasaki Making U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10 km

Every year since 2012 that there's been a United Airlines NYC Half , JRN has partnered with the NYRR and November's Ageo City Half Marathon to bring two top-tier collegiate Japanese men to the NYC Half for what's usually been their international debuts. For years we've wanted to extend that program to include top collegiate women, but that has always faced 2 problems. For one, while the half marathon distance is the main focus for Japanese collegiate men due to the stage lengths at the Hakone Ekiden, few collegiate women run it. Those that do run the National University Women's Half Marathon in Matsue, held the same day as the NYC Half. This year, though, we're finally making it happen in a slightly different way. Amisa Murayama and Nazuki Sasaki of 2025 Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden national collegiate championship runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University are joining the field for the NYRR's Mastercard New York Mini 10 km on June 6. After running an 18:14 CR ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more