The Sendai International Half Marathon returned Sunday for the first time in 3 years, with a field limited to 4000 instead of its regular size of 10,000+ and a wave start to reduce crowd density. Running her first race since the Tokyo Olympics marathon and her first race in supershoes, Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) won the women's race in 1:09:08, exactly tying her PB. Her teammates Natsumi Matsushita and Yuna Daito were 2nd and 3rd, making it a Tenmaya sweep of the podium.
source articles:
In the men's race, world all-time #4 Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) just edged Andrew Lorot (Subaru) to score his second Sendai win, catching Lorot on the track after Lorot took a wrong turn at its entrance. Both runners clocked 1:01:08. Naoki Koyama (Honda) was 3rd in 1:02:07. Tomoki Suzuki (Toyota) won the men's wheelchair race in 46:02, with Wakako Tsuchida (Willraise) taking the women's race in 54:36.
Another Tokyo Olympic marathoner also returned to competition, as Yuma Hattori (Toyota) ran the Prague Marathon in the Czech Republic. Going through halfway just under 3:00/km pace in 1:03:14, Hattori faded badly after 35 km to finish 9th overall in 2:18:06. Kenyan Nobert Kigen won in 2:07:54. Also in Europe, 2022 Asian Games marathon team member Mao Uesugi (Starts) was 7th at the Lisbon Half Marathon in 1:10:58, with teammate Nana Sato 12th in 1:14:03.
Sendai International Half Marathon
Sendai, Miyagi, 8 May 2022
Women
1. Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) - 1:09:08
2. Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) - 1:11:30
3. Yuna Daito (Tenmaya) - 1:11:48
4. Reia Iwade (Adidas) - 1:12:45
5. Chiharu Ikeda (Hitachi) - 1:13:08
6. Kaori Morita (Panasonic) - 1:14:08
7. Toshika Tamura (Hitachi) - 1:14:25
8. Kasumi Yoshida (Aichi Denki) - 1:15:26
9. Akane Sekino (Comodi Iida) - 1:15:42
10. Anna Matsuda (Denso) - 1:15:54
Men
1. Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) - 1:01:08
2. Andrew Lorot (Subaru) - 1:01:08
3. Naoki Koyama (Honda) - 1:02:07
4. Minato Oishi (Toyota) - 1:02:36
5. Shin Kimura (Honda) - 1:02:44
6. Takeshi Nishida (Toyota) - 1:02:52
7. Luka Musembi (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:02:56
8. Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 1:02:58
9. Hisanori Kitajima (Yasukawa Denki) - 1:02:59
10. Benard Kimani (Comodi Iida) - 1:03:11
Wheelchair Women
1. Wakako Tsuchida (Willraise) - 54:36
Wheelchair Men
1. Tomoki Suzuki (Toyota) - 46:02
2. Ryota Yoshida (SUS) - 46:55
3. Masayuki Higuchi (Puma Japan) - 49:05
translated and edited by Brett Larner
Comments
He was then starting to lose contact but man he must have really slowed down, he was on 2.07-2.08 pace before km 30.
Announcers kept saying it was really hot in Prague yesterday, wonder if that had anything to do with it and if it played a role after what happened at the olympics.