Uchida 4th at Chevron Houston Marathon

Making his international debut with support from JRN, Kenta Uchida (SID Group) took 4th in the Chevron Houston Marathon in a tight pack race to the end. The debuting Frank Lara (U.S.A.) did most of the work throughout the race, leading the front group through halfway in 1:05:30 before things slowed to mid-2:12 territory. When another first-timer, Luke Caldwell (Great Britain) caught up just after 25 km and went right by into the lead the pace picked up, but at 40 km it was still a group of 6 all right together.

James Ngandu (Kenya), yet another runner doing his first marathon, had the strongest kick, finishing in 2:11:03 to run almost even splits. 2nd placer Abdi Abdo (Bahrain) was 8 seconds behind by the end, but just 9 seconds separated him from 5th. Elisha Barno (Kenya) edged Uchida for 3rd by 3 seconds 2:11:16 to 2:11:19, with 2020 winner Kelkile Gezahegn (Ethiopia) another second behind Uchida. Both Lara and Caldwell cleared 2:12 in 6th and 7th.

"For his first time racing overseas this was pretty good," said Uchida's coach Junichi Shibata. "He was right there until the end and didn't drop off or go too early. I'm happy with how he did." "I'm happy with how I did," said Shibata, "but more than happy I'm just really tired." Shibata's result moved him up to 5th in the Japan Marathon Championship rankings, where a top-8 ranking at the end of March qualifies the athletes for the 2024 MGC Olympic marathon trials.

In the women's race Keira D'Amato (U.S.A.) soloed a male-paced 2:19:12 national record, winning by almost 10 minutes over runner-up Alice Wright (Great Britain) and exactly tying Olympic gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi's Japanese national record. The American record also fell in the accompanying half-marathon where Sara Hall ran 1:07:15 for 2nd behind Vicoty Chepngeno (Kenya), who set an American all-comers record of 1:05:03. Milkelsa Tolosa (Ethiopia) won the men's race in 1:00:24 by 3 seconds over John Korir (Kenya). 8th-placer Rory Linkletter set a Canadian national record of 1:01:08.

50th Chevron Houston Marathon

Houston, Texas, U.S.A., 16 Jan., 2022

complete results

Men

1. James Ngandu (Kenya) - 2:11:03 - debut

2. Abdi Abdo (Bahrain) - 2:11:11

3. Elisha Barno (Kenya) - 2:11:16

4. Kenta Uchida (Japan/SID Group) - 2:11:19

5. Kelkile Gezahegn (Ethiopia) - 2:11:20

6. Frank Lara (U.S.A.) - 2:11:32 - debut

7. Luke Caldwell (Great Britain) - 2:11:33 - debut

8. Josh Izewski (U.S.A.) - 2:12:45 - PB

9. Augustus Maiyo (U.S.A.) - 2:13:17

10. Rodgers Ondati Gesabwa (U.S.A.) - 2:14:46

Women

1. Keira D'Amato (U.S.A.) - 2:19:12 - NR, CR

2. Alice Wright (Great Britain) - 2:29:08

3. Maggie Montoya (U.S.A.) - 2:29:08

4. Roberta Groner (U.S.A.) - 2:32:02

5. Atsede Tesema (Ethiopia) - 2:32:38

6. Brittney Feivor (U.S.A.) - 2:32:39

7. Kathya Mirell Garcia Barrios (Mexico) - 2:32:54

8. Christina Welsh (U.S.A.) - 2:33:00

9. Molly Bookmyer (U.S.A.) - 2:33:19

10. Andrea Pomaranski (U.S.A.) - 2:33:35

Men's Half Marathon

1. Milkelsa Tolosa (Ethiopia) - 1:00:24

2. John Korir (Kenya) - 1:00:27

3. Wilfred Kimitei (Kenya) - 1:00:44

4. Kirubel Erassa (U.S.A.) - 1:00:44

5. Shadrack Kimining (Kenya) - 1:00:53

6. Patrick Tiernan (Australia) - 1:00:55

7. Biya Simbassa (U.S.A.) - 1:01:03

8. Rory Linkletter (Canada) - 1:01:08 - NR

9. Sydney Gidabuday (U.S.A.) - 1:01:09

10. Scott Fauble (U.S.A.) - 1:01:11

Women's Half Marathon

1. Vicoty Chepngeno (Kenya) - 1:05:03 - ACR

2. Sara Hall (U.S.A.) - 1:07:15 - NR

3. Dominique Scott (South Africa) - 1:07:32

4. Fiona O'Keefe (U.S.A.) - 1:07:42

5. Jessica Judd (Great Britain) - 1:07:52

6. Emily Durgin (U.S.A.) - 1:07:54

7. Caren Maiyo (Kenya) - 1:08:41

8. Dakotah Lindwurm (U.S.A.) - 1:09:36

9. Nell Rojas (U.S.A.) - 1:09:42

10. Annie Frisbie (U.S.A.) - 1:10:27

Saku Chosei H.S. Makes It 2 In a Row - National High School Ekiden Boys' Race

While the girls' race was a blowout by 2022 champ Nagano Higashi H.S. , the boys' race at Sunday's National High School Ekiden was a tense battle of turnover that saw all of the final top four teams take a stab at leading. 2023 3rd-placer Yachiyo Shoin H.S. handled the first 2 of the 7 stages in the 42.195 km race, with lead runner Rui Suzuki delivering a bold run on the 10.0 km First Stage that produced the fastest-ever time by a Japanese runner on the stage, 28:43, and put Yachiyo Shoin 29 seconds out front. Last year's Fifth Stage CR breaker Tetsu Suzuki ran Yachiyo Shoin down to put 2023 champ Saku Chosei H.S. into 1st on the 8.1075 km Third Stage, but Genta Sugano of last year's 8th-placer Sendai Ikuei H.S. had other plans and took the lead on the 8.0875 km Fourth Stage. Smiling and fist pumping to the crowd almost the entire way, Taketo Tsukada of last year's 6th-placer Omuta H.S. moved up from 3rd to 1st by 2 seconds over Saku Chosei on the 3.0 k...

Japan Post Holds Off Sekisui Kagaku to Win Queens Ekiden National Title

Japan Post was back on top at the Queens Ekiden corporate women's national championships Sunday in Sendai, holding off last year's winner Sekisui Kagaku over the second half of a race that came as close as 1 second to take 1st with a final margin of victory of 27 seconds. Sekisui Kagaku was out fast with a win on the 7.0 km opening leg by Erika Tanoura and a new CR for the 12:56 second leg by Yuma Yamamoto , 17 seconds better than her own CR from last year. Last year's 4th-placer Shiseido briefly led on the 10.6 km third leg with an excellent 33:17 stage win from Rino Goshima , but behind her Japan Post's Ririka Hironaka returned from her latest injury problems to pass Sekisui Kagaku's Sayaka Sato and hand off 6 seconds ahead. New recruit Caroline Kariba ran Shiseido down on the 3.6 km fourth leg and put Japan Post 22 seconds ahead of Sekisui Kagaku, but a duel of marathoners between JP's Ayuko Suzuki and Sekisui's Hitomi Niiy...

Nagano Higashi Girls Lead Start to Finish to Win National High School Ekiden

2022 National High School Ekiden girls' champion Nagano Higashi H.S. was back in force after a 5th-place finish last year, leading start to finish to win this year's national title Sunday in Kyoto. Lead runner Airi Mashiba kicked it off with a 19:30 stage win on the 6.0 km opening leg, something that head coach Fumio Yokouchi said later that he hadn't been expecting. That ended up being Nagano Higashi's only individual stage win in the 5-leg, 21.0975 km race, but the rest of its team ran well enough to hold a lead that was never less than 11 seconds but never more than 21. Last year's 4th-placer Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. spent most of the race in 2nd, but over the second half of the race Sendai Ikuei H.S. , 2nd last year by just 1 second, came from further back to run Kunei down on the anchor stage thanks in big part to a critical stage win on the 4th leg by Tsubomi Tezuka that put anchor Aoi Hosokawa in position to catch Kunei's Mizuki Oda . Nagano Higashi ...

japan running news

Search This Blog