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Berlin Marathon Japanese Results


Hidekazu Hijikata (Honda), 2nd at February's Lake Biwa Marathon in 2:06:26, went out in the 2nd pack that included eventual runner-up Bethwel Yegon (Yegon). Hitting halfway on national record pace just 15 seconds off his half marathon PB in 1:02:17, by 25 km Hijikata was in free-fall. his 5 km splits going from the 14-min range to 15, to 16, and finally to 17:11. He ultimately finished 9th in 2:11:47.

Kazuki Muramoto (Sumitomo Denko) and Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) were initially in the same group with Yegon and Hijikata but only lasted 10 km before backing off together. Muramoto, 11th in Lake Biwa in 2:07:36, dropped further back, but after getting caught by top German Philipp Pflieger he tacked on and regained ground. With 3 km to go he passed Fujimoto, the 2019 Fukuoka International Marathon winner, finishing 14th in 2:14:11. Fujimoto was 15th in 2:14:18, 43 seconds up on Pflieger.

© 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Sean Hartnett said…
From my colleague Helmut Winter the dew point in Berlin was 14-15c with rising temperatures the recipe for severe positive splits.
Unfortunately the forecast for Chicago is for 15-16C with even warmer temperatures for NR Kengo Suzuki. Fast times are out the window but maybe a good tactical race.
October 8, 2021 at 1:50 AM
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