Mathenge Breaks National Corporate Half Marathon Course Record

Patrick Mathenge Wambui (NTT Nishi Nihon) ran a PB of nearly a minute to win the 2021 National Corporate Half Marathon Championships men's race Sunday in Yamaguchi. Wambui had pressure until almost 20 km from 2016 national cross-country champion Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) before kicking away for the win, crossing the line in a world-leading 1:00:12 to take 6 seconds off the course record. Ichida was next in 1:00:19, a PB by almost two minutes, the fastest Japanese time on the corporate nationals course by 13 seconds, and the fourth-fastest ever by a Japanese man.

Benard Kimani (Comody Iida) was the only other man under 61 minutes at 1:00:30 for 3rd, with the top 26 all breaking 62 minutes. Further back, 48-year-old Satoshi Emoto (Mitsubishi Okazaki) ran 1:06:28, bettering Martin Rees' age 48 world record by 1 second.

Last year's Nagoya Women's Marathon runner-up Yuka Ando (Wacoal) dominated the women's race, running each 5 km split progressively faster to win in 1:09:54. Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada) was 2nd in 1:10:10 with Ayari Harada (Daiichi Seimei) 3rd in 1:10:17. 14 women broke 71 minutes.

49th National Corporate Half Marathon Championships

Yamaguchi, 14 Feb. 2021

complete men's results

complete women's results

Men

1. Patrick Mathenge Wambui (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 1:00:12 - CR

2. Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 1:00:19

3. Benard Kimani (Comody Iida) - 1:00:30

4. Kiyoshi Koga (Yasukawa Denki) - 1:01:13

5. Masashi Nonaka (Osaka Gas) - 1:01:14

6. Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:01:16

7. Yuki Muta (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 1:01:17

8. Sho Nagato (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 1:01:19

9. Shun Yuzawa (SGH Group) - 1:01:19

10. Wataru Tochigi (Hitach Butsuryu) - 1:01:21

------

25. Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:01:53

50. Yusuke Osumi (JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:02:38

75. Kazuya Yamaguchi (Chugoku Denryoku) - 1:03:15

100. Junpei Kanisawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:03:48

125. Ryunosuke Hayashi (SGH Group) - 1:04:41

150. Takuya Kumashiro (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 1:05:33

174. Satoshi Emoto (Mitsubishi Okazaki) - 1:06:28

175. Hideaki Ishii (Fujitsu) - 1:06:32

200. Kazuto Arishige (JR Nishi Nihon) - 1:07:40

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DNF - Kota Murayama (Asahi Kasei)

DNF - Biyazen Yeneblo (Yachiyo Kogyo)

Women

1. Yuka Ando (Wacoal) - 1:09:54

2. Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada) - 1:10:10

3. Ayari Harada (Daiichi Seimei) - 1:10:17

4. Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) - 1:10:18

5. Ikumi Fukura (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:10:21

6. Yumi Yoshikawa (Uniqlo) - 1:10:23

7. Wakana Itsuki (Kyudenko) - 1:10:23

8. Kaori Morita (Panasonic) - 1:10:28

9. Saya Nishitani (Route Inn Hotels) - 1:10:38

10. Rei Ohara (Tenmaya) - 1:10:46

-----

25. Hanae Tanaka (Shiseido) - 1:11:50

50. Risa Yokoe (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:14:16

75. Kasumi Ogawa (Starts) - 1:19:03

-----

DNF - Miku Daido (Iwatani Sangyo)

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."...

Nat'l University Ekiden Updates Here

Looks like I just went over my update limit on Twitter - sorry, it's the first time I've tried to use it for this. I'll look for another option next time. In the meantime I'll add updates to the comments below. Not sure if that has a max too but I guess we'll find out. Update: Part one of the Nationals commentary can be found here .

Keita Satoh Running New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile

1500 m U20 NR holder Keita Satoh (Nike Swoosh TC) is running this weekend's New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile , the first time that a Japanese man has been invited in the race's 45-year history. In university Sato had to change focus away from middle distance to the half marathon-scale lengths of the Hakone Ekiden stages, but since graduating in March and relocating to Flagstaff he has refocused on the 1500 m, going from 3:43.19 in April in his first 1500 m in almost 4 years to 3:38.30 over the course of 5 races. Fifth Avenue will be his last race before heading back to Japan for one more track 1500 m and some down time. Men's entries with best 1500 m times in last 3 years: Stefan Nillessen (NED) - 3:29.23 (2025) Flavien Szot (FRA) - 3:30.74 (2025) Oliver Hoare (AUS) - 3:31.07 (2024) Jake Heyward (GBR) - 3:31.18 (2026) Titouan Le Grix (FRA) - 3:31.46 (2026) Romain Mornet (FRA) - 3:31.62 (2025) Adam Spencer (AUS) - 3:31.83 (2026) Pieter Sisk (BEL) - 3:31.85 (2025) Gary Martin (...

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