Skip to main content

Japanese Amateur Yamaguchi and Ugandan Kusuro Break Kobe Course Records



Amateur Japanese club runner Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) and Ugandan Geoffrey Kusuro had dominant wins at the 9th running of the Kobe Marathon Sunday, both running PBs and winning by almost 4 minutes in course record time.

Yamaguchi, who ran a PB 2:33:06 in Sydney in September and dropped a surprise 31:58 at last weekend's East Japan Women's Ekiden, slipped away early, never challenged by the pack of invited African elites or by friend and rival club runner Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab Kanto). Going through halfway faster than her half marathon PB in 1:13:08. She slowed slightly in the second half, especially on the large bridge out to the island finish line, but her win was never in doubt as she broke the tape in 2:27:39. Previously, the fastest pure amateur Japanese women's marathon performance was Chihiro Tanaka's 2:29:30 in Nagoya in 2002. Breaking that by almost two minutes, Yamaguchi staked her claim as Japan's best-ever amateur.


2nd through 5th were close together but a distant afterthought. Almost 4 minutes back from Yamaguchi, Sisay Meseret Gola (Ethiopia) was 2nd in 2:31:30 ahead of compatriot Tesfanesh Merga, Kenyan Tesfanesh Merga, and Kaneshige, who took almost a minute and a half off of her PB of 2:33:16 at last month's Chicago Marathon.

Kusuro had a different race than Yamaguchi, running down early frontrunning Kenyan John Loitang, hitting halfway in 1:03:35 side-by-side, and then alone before 25 km. He too struggled on the bridge out to the bay just before the finish, a feature set to disappear with Kobe's planned course change to a downtown finish, but with a gap over Barngetuny and the rest of the field that only grew over the second half of the race he had no trouble hanging on to win in 2:08:46. Barngetuny was next in 2:12:23, over a minute and a half ahead of Japanese 3rd-placer Junichi Tsubouchi (Kurosaki Harima).

9th Kobe Marathon

Kobe, Hyogo, 11/17/19

Women
1. Haruka Yamaguchi (Japan/AC Kita) - 2:27:39 - CR, PB
2. Sisay Meseret Gola (Ethiopia) - 2:31:30
3. Tesfanesh Merga (Ethiopia) - 2:31:43
4. Mirriam Wangari (Kenya) - 2:31:48
5. Shiho Kaneshige (Japan/GRlab Kanto) - 2:31:56 - PB

Men
1. Geoffrey Kusuro (Uganda) - 2:08:46 - CR, PB
2. Eliud Barngetuny (Kenya) - 2:12:23
3. Junichi Tsubouchi (Japan/Kurosaki Harima) - 2:14:05
4. Kalipus Lomwai (Kenya) - 2:14:09
5. Weldu Negash (Ethiopia) - 2:14:30

photos © 2019 Ryan McDonald, all rights reserved
© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Metts said…
Looking at a more clear picture on Yahoo Japan, it looks like she wasn't wearing the so-called magic shoes. And looking at the AC Kita website and records, the next best time after her previous PB is a 2:37, for AC K. if correct.
November 17, 2019 at 7:03 PM
Brett Larner said…
Yamaguchi ran in Asics as always. AC Kita site is out of date as she ran 2:33:09 in Sydney in September and has run under 2:37 at least 3 other times this year alone.
November 17, 2019 at 7:21 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

'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

Hirayama Breaks Osaka Half CR, Martinez Set Puerto Rican NR

The Osaka Half Marathon took another big step up the domestic half marathon rankings from a mass-participation race run alongside the Osaka International Women's Marathon to one of the country's top-tier races. In the women's race, the debuting Jecinta Nyokabi (Denso) went out fast, only to be run down by veteran Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon AC) by 10 km. Nyokabi faded to 6th in 1:10:41, but Yoshikawa pushed on to a PB 1:09:14 for the win. Rina Shimizu (Noritz), Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) and Makoto Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.) all broke 70 minutes, Tsuchiya taking the Kansai Region collegiate title in 1:09:32 for 4th overall. Everyone in the top 10 who wasn't debuting ran a PB, a mark of how fast the day was even with cold and windy conditions. The men's race went out on sub-61 pace courtesy of Yudai Shimazu (GMO), then got a big injection of speed when Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) took off close to 60-flat pace. Yokota opened a 10-second lead by 15 km, but over ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Marugame, Beppu-Oita and More - Weekend Preview

After the Osaka International Women's Marathon and Osaka Half Marathon last weekend Japan's winter road season rolls on with 3 big races Sunday. The Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon has a good field up front in the women's race with 5 runners, Eilish McColgan , Dolphine Omare , Isobel Batt-Doyle , Charlotte Purdue and Yuka Ando , with sub-1:09 bests and the debut of #1 collegiate runner Sarah Wanjiru of Daito Bunka University . 3 men in Marugame have recent sub-60 times, Emmanuel Maru , Richard Etir and Kotaro Shinohara leading the way. Shinohara was one of 2 Japanese men to break 60 at Marugame last year and missed the NR by 3 seconds in 59:30. After a 42:53 CR on his 15.3 km leg at the New Year Ekiden on Jan.1, 45:06 pace for 10 miles, he's looking to pick up at least another 4 seconds this time around. 14 other men in the field are at the 60-minute level, and Chuo University 's sub-28 10000 m runner Yamato Hamaguchi is making a highly anticip...
1 comment
Read more