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

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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)

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...

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