Skip to main content

Aoyama Gakuin Scores Double Win as Half Marathons Return


The Ageo City Half Marathon, Japan's major elite-level fall half marathon, was supposed to have happened this past Sunday but was among the many races canceled again for reasons pandemic. But two other half marathons did go off as scheduled, both with fast wins by runners from the Aoyama Gakuin University ekiden team.

The bigger of the two was the Setagaya 246 Half Marathon in suburban Tokyo. AGU's Yuto Tanaka led teammate Hironobu Nakakura and 2021 Hakone Ekiden and National University Ekiden champ Komazawa University's Takumi Karasawa under 63 minutes, Tanaka winning in 1:02:38 by 6 seconds over Nakakura and 7 seconds over Karasawa. Marathoner Reia Iwade set a new course record in the women's race, winning in 1:11:25.

Far to the north in Iwate at the Miyako Salmon Half Marathon AGU's Aoi Ota was even faster, winning in 1:02:27. His teammates Masahiro Sekiguchi, Tsubasa Nojima and Kaisei Nishikawa all cleared 63 minutes, running 1:02:38, 1:02:51 and 1:02:54. AGU runners swept the top seven spots, together with the Setagaya 246 results setting AGU up well for Hakone in a time of few chances to race Hakone stage length distances. Atsumi Nakajima won the women's race in 1:28:11.

© 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

RigaJags said…
Awesome performances.
Is there anyone who can fight with Aoyama and Komazawa at the Hakone Ekiden? Seems like those 2 will be the heavy favorites, any possible surprises?
November 18, 2021 at 3:34 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .
Post a Comment
Read more

Hirayama Breaks Osaka Half CR, Martinez Set Puerto Rican NR

The Osaka Half Marathon took another big step up the domestic half marathon rankings from a mass-participation race run alongside the Osaka International Women's Marathon to one of the country's top-tier races. In the women's race, the debuting Jecinta Nyokabi (Denso) went out fast, only to be run down by veteran Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon AC) by 10 km. Nyokabi faded to 6th in 1:10:41, but Yoshikawa pushed on to a PB 1:09:14 for the win. Rina Shimizu (Noritz), Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) and Makoto Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.) all broke 70 minutes, Tsuchiya taking the Kansai Region collegiate title in 1:09:32 for 4th overall. Everyone in the top 10 who wasn't debuting ran a PB, a mark of how fast the day was even with cold and windy conditions. The men's race went out on sub-61 pace courtesy of Yudai Shimazu (GMO), then got a big injection of speed when Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) took off close to 60-flat pace. Yokota opened a 10-second lead by 15 km, but over ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Marugame, Beppu-Oita and More - Weekend Preview

After the Osaka International Women's Marathon and Osaka Half Marathon last weekend Japan's winter road season rolls on with 3 big races Sunday. The Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon has a good field up front in the women's race with 5 runners, Eilish McColgan , Dolphine Omare , Isobel Batt-Doyle , Charlotte Purdue and Yuka Ando , with sub-1:09 bests and the debut of #1 collegiate runner Sarah Wanjiru of Daito Bunka University . 3 men in Marugame have recent sub-60 times, Emmanuel Maru , Richard Etir and Kotaro Shinohara leading the way. Shinohara was one of 2 Japanese men to break 60 at Marugame last year and missed the NR by 3 seconds in 59:30. After a 42:53 CR on his 15.3 km leg at the New Year Ekiden on Jan.1, 45:06 pace for 10 miles, he's looking to pick up at least another 4 seconds this time around. 14 other men in the field are at the 60-minute level, and Chuo University 's sub-28 10000 m runner Yamato Hamaguchi is making a highly anticip...
1 comment
Read more