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:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...
1 comment
Read more

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...
Post a Comment
Read more