Dolphine Omare and Alexander Mutiso Lead Gifu Seiryu Half Elite Field

The Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon returns Apr. 24 with a mostly Japan-based field that at least on the men's side is still just about the best in its 11-year history.

On the women's side, 2022 National Corporate Half Marathon winner Dolphine Nyaboke Omare is the heavy favorite after running 1:07:56 to win the corporate title. Australian Sinead Diver, a DNF at last month's Nagoya Women's Marathon, is the only other woman in the field to have broken 70 minutes in the last 3 years with a 1:08:50 in Marugame 2 years ago. Along with Eloise Wellings and Natalie Rule Diver is part of an Australian trio that is the only segment of the race coming from outside Japan. Yuma Adachi (Kyocera) and Anna Matsuda (Denso) are the top Japanese women, Adachi with a 1:10:21 in Osaka in January and Matsuda a 1:10:29 behind Omare in February.

Nobody is coming from overseas to run in the men's race, but the Japan-based Kenyan field is just about as good as Gifu could hope for any year. Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) leads them all with a 57:59 best in Valencia 2020, followed by sub-60 men Joseph Karanja (Aichi Seiko) and Vincent Raimoi (Suzuki) and sub-28 track 10000 m runners Benard Kibet Koech (Kyudenko), Philip Mulwa (Soka Univ.), Joseph Macharia Ndirangu (Aichi Seiko), Simon Saidim (Chuo Hatsujo) and Josphat Ledama Kisaisa (Kanebo).

At the front of the domestic field are sub-61 men Yuki Sato (SG Holdings), Yuta Shitara (Honda) and Takahiro Nakamura (Kagoshima Kyocera). But with 9 other 61-minute runners and dozens more at the 62 and 63-minute level it could be another super-deep half in the works. Gifu Seiryu can be warm and its mid-race hills don't make it the fastest course around, but in terms of depth this could be its biggest year yet.

JRN will be on-site in Gifu race weekend. Look for more on following the race live as we get closer to race date.

11th Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon Elite Field Highlights

Gifu, 24 Apr. 2022

times listed are best within last 3 years except where noted

Women

Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (Kenya/U.S.E.) - 1:07:56 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Sinead Diver (Australia) - 1:08:50 (Marugame 2020)

Yuma Adachi (Kyocera) - 1:10:21 (Osaka 2022)

Anna Matsuda (Denso) - 1:10:29 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Reia Iwade (Adidas) - 1:10:59 (Olympic Test Event 2021)

Eloise Wellings (Australia) - 1:11:48 (Nagoya 2022 first half)

Kasumi Yoshida (Aichi Denki) - 1:12:30 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2020)

Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) - 1:13:06 (Nagoya 2022 first half)

Miharu Shimokado (SID Group) - 1:13:06 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Chizuru Oi (Nara-X Athletes) - 1:13:20 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Aika Nakashima (Kyocera) - 1:13:32 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Aiko Fujita (Aichi Denki) - 1:13:53 (Sanyo Ladies 2021)

Natalie Rule (Australia) - debut - 32:46 (Hobart 10km 2022)

Men

Alexander Mutiso (Kenya/ND Software) - 57:59 (Valencia 2020)

Joseph Karanja (Kenya/Aichi Seiko) - 59:48 (Madrid 2021)

Vincent Raimoi (Kenya/Suzuki) - 59:51 (Ras Al Khaimah 2020)

Yuki Sato (SG Holdings) - 1:00:46 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Yuta Shitara (Honda) - 1:00:49 (Marugame 2020)

Takahiro Nakamura (Kyocera Kagoshima) - 1:00:57 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Emmanuel Maru (Kenya/Toyota Boshoku) - 1:01:16 (Valencia 2021)

Hidekazu Hijikata (Honda) - 1:01:22 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Takayasu Hashizume (SG Holdings) - 1:01:27 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Ryu Takaku (Yakult) - 1:01:30 (Marugame 2020)

Masao Kizu (Kanebo) - 1:01:45 (Marugame 2019)

Yuji Onoda (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:01:46 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2020)

Hiromasa Kumahashi (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 1:01:47 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2020)

Kai Takeshita (SG Holdings) - 1:01:50 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2020)

Daisuke Higuchi (Chuo Hatsujo) - 1:01:59 (Nat' Corp. Half 2022)

Benard Kibet Koech (Kenya/Kyudenko) - 27:02.39 (Nat'l Corp. Champs 2020)

Philip Mulwa (Kenya/Soka Univ.) - 27:35.29 (Hachioji Distance 2021)

Joseph Macharia Ndirangu (Kenya/Aichi Seiko) - 27:41.30 (HDC Chitose 2020)

Simon Saidim (Kenya/Chuo Hatsujo) - 27:46.01 (Hachioji Distance 2020)

Josphat Ledama Kisaisa (Kenya/Kanebo) - 27:47.17 (Hachioji Distance 2021)

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

japan running news

Search This Blog