Skip to main content

Mwaura and Ichiyama Break Okukuma Half Marathon Course Records

click photo for complete video of race

3rd two years ago and runner-up last year, Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) finally got the better of two-time champ Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu), breaking away inside the first 5 km to solo a 1:00:44 for the win and taking more than 30 seconds off Karemi's course record at the Okukuma Road Race half marathon. Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) led a small group of Japanese men who tried to follow Mwaura's move, while Karemi initially hung back. Once Karemi caught back up, he and Ichida ran past halfway together before he put on a surge at a water station to drop Ichida and try to close the gap to Mwaura. But a third-straight title in his last race in Japan wasn't to be, as Karemi finished just over a minute behind Mwaura in 1:01:49. Ichida held on to the top Japanese spot at 3rd in a 3-second PB of 1:02:21.

The women's race initially played out as a head-to-head between duos from the Wacoal and Kyocera corporate teams, with Wacoal's Mao Ichiyama and Yuka Ando taking on Kyocera's Anna Matsuda and Yuma Adachi in a lead quartet. Like Mwaura, Ichiyama made the race-breaking move to solo a new 1:10:25 course record for the win, bettering Matsuda's course record from her win last year by over two and a half minutes. Ando, Matsuda and Adachi were also all under Matsuda's old record, with Ando scoring 2nd in 1:11:09, Matsuda 3rd in 1:11:24 and Adachi 4th in 1:11:43.

8th Okukuma Half Marathon

Kumamoto, 1/19/20

Men's Half Marathon
1. Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:00:44 - CR
2. Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:01:49
3. Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 1:02:21
4. Takato Suzuki (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:49
5. Ryunosuke Hayashi (SGH Group) - 1:02:54
6. Suguru Otagura (Yachiyo Kogyo) - 1:03:01
7. Tomoya Nakamura (Aoyama Gakuin University) - 1:03:08
8. Tatsuya Yamamoto (Yachiyo Kogyo) - 1:03:13
9. Yuma Shimizu (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:24
10. Daiki Ando (Asahi Kasei) - 1:03:24

Women's Half Marathon
1. Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) - 1:10:25 - CR
2. Yuka Ando (Wacoal) - 1:11:09
3. Anna Matsuda (Kyocera) - 1:11:24
4. Yuma Adachi (Kyocera) - 1:11:43
5. Mana Taniguchi (Wacoal) - 1:13:18
6. Erika Honda (Higo Ginko) - 1:13:57
7. Chika Ihara (Higo Ginko) - 1:13:45
8. Aika Murakami (Nittai University) - 1:14:26
9. Mio Kuroda (Nittai University) - 1:15:35
10. Hiroko Tsuruta (Nittai University) - 1:15:55

© 2020 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Matsumoto Marathon Canceled After Fraudulently Hiding Past Financial Losses

On Apr. 23 the city government of Matsumoto, Nagano announced that it was canceling this fall's Matsumoto Marathon after discovering accounting fraud in the event's operation. "We are going to conduct a review of how the race has been conducted up to now," a statement from the city read. Mayor Yoshinao Gaun apologized at a press conference, saying, "We sincerely apologize for letting down everyone involved in putting the event together." The Matsumoto Marathon is run by an executive committee made up of representatives from the city, the Matsumoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Shinano Mainichi Newspaper, and the relevant track and field associations. According to city officials, financial records for the November, 2023 edition of the race were fraudulently manipulated. Income from participants' entry fees was lower than expected, and although the city managed to get the Shinano Mainichi, to which it had outsourced overall event management, to r...
Post a Comment
Read more

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...
2 comments
Read more

Nyiva and Wolde Win Gifu Seiryu Half

Two good races happened Sunday at the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon . The women's race was a head-to-head race between 2022 marathon world champion Gotytom Gebreslase and debuting Japan-based Janet Nyiva . Side-by-side through 15 km, Nyiva shattered Gebreslase with a massive surge over the last 5 km that ultimately put 52 second between them, Nyiva wining in 1:07:37 and Gebreslase next in 1:08:29. 2023 Asian marathon champion Eunice Chebichii Chumba held off the up-and-coming Kana Kobayashi , a member of Japan's marathon team for September's Tokyo World Championships, with a 1:09:07 for 3rd. Kobayashi's 1:09:09 for 4th was a PB by almost 5 minutes and the fastest time ever on the rolling Gifu course by a Japanese woman. Yumi Yoshikawa was 5th in 1:10:51. Five men went out front on mid-59 pace. Dawit Wolde , debuting Kiprono Sitonik , Vincent Yegon and veteran Bedan Karoki all took turns leading, with only Richard Kimunyan tucking in and declining to share the load. ...
Post a Comment
Read more