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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

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
-----
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)

© 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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