On Jan. 17 the organizers of the Kumanichi 30 km Road Race announced the elite field of 15 men and 5 women for this year's 64th running on Feb. 16. 2020 Olympic women's marathon team member Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) and half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) are scheduled to lead the women's and men's fields.
Suzuki won the 10000 m at the 2013 World University Games and ran the 5000 m at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. In just her second marathon she finished 2nd at last September's MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials to secure her place on the Olympic team. Kumanichi will be a key part of her pre-Olympic preparations.
Other women in the race include last year's 3rd-placer Chika Ihara (Higo Ginko) and 6th-place Minori Goto (Canon AC Kyushu). Both are aiming for the win.
Shitara ran the 10000 m in Rio, set the half marathon national record in 2017, and broke the marathon national record for the first time in 16 years with a mark of 2:06:11 at the 2018 Tokyo Marathon. He finished only 14th at the MGC Race but led the race solo for the first 37 km.
Along with Shitara, MGC Race entrant Kohei Ogino (Fujitsu) and 1:01:45 half marathoner Akito Terui (ND Software) and other stars from January's New Year Ekiden represent the corporate leagues. Hakone Ekiden First Stage winner Rei Yonemitsu (Soka Univ.) and three members of the overall Hakone champion Aoyama Gakuin University team, Keita Yoshida, Yuta Kanbayashi and Shuya Iwami, represent the university set.
Besides the invited elite field, a total of 147 people are entered in Kumanichi's general division. Since the race merged with the new Kumamoto Castle Marathon in 2012, it is the highest number of entrants in event history, breaking last year's record of 137 entries. Both the women's and men's races start at 9:00 a.m. in front of Torimachi Sujidentei in central Kumamoto, finishing in front of Bipuresu Kumanichi Kaikan.
source article:
https://this.kiji.is/591155508172735585
translated and edited by Brett Larner
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