Skip to main content

Kipkemoi and Nyaga Win Inaugural Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon


Tokyo's newest elite-level road race happened Sunday on the course used for Japan's 2020 Olympic marathon trials and the 2020 Paralympic Games marathon, with the first edition of the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon bringing 15,000 to the streets.

Kenyan Vincent Kipkemoi outran Japan-based world all-time #4 Alexander Mutiso for the win 1:00:10 to 1:00:29, with 3rd and 4th-placers Benard Kimeli and Vincent Raimoi also getting under 61 minutes despite the tough uphill finish. With prize money running 8 deep Kenyans took the top 8 spots. Winning a three-way sprint finish on the track for 9th and top Japanese honors was Kenta Murayama, outkicking marathoners Daisuke Uekado and Yusuke Nishiyama by 1 second in 1:02:14.

In the women's race, unknown Caroline Nyaga outran 2022 National Corporate Half Marathon champ Dolphine Omare Nyaboke for the win, breaking her PB by over a minute and a half in 1:08:23. Nyaboke was 2nd in 1:09:46. On the climb back up to the stadium 2022 Hokkaido Marathon winner Haruka Yamaguchi broke away from American Betsy Saina to take 3rd in 1:10:35. Saina faded badly in the last 2 km but held off marathoner Mao Kiyota by 5 seconds for 4th in 1:11:13.

Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon

Tokyo, 16 Oct. 2022

Men
1. Vincent Kipkemoi (Kenya) - 1:00:10
2. Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) - 1:00:29
3. Benard Kimeli (Fujitsu) - 1:00:36
4. Vincent Raimoi (Suzuki) - 1:00:56
5. Macharia Ndirangu (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:11
6. Joseph Karanja (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:32
7. Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:02:04
8. Benson Tunyo (Kenya) - 1:02:07
9. Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 1:02:14
10. Daisuke Uekado (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:02:15
11. Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota) - 1:02:15

Women
1. Caroline Nyaga (Kenya) - 1:08:23
2. Dolphine Omare Nyaboke (U.S.E.) - 1:09:46
3. Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) - 1:10:35
4. Betsy Saina (U.S.A.) - 1:11:13
5. Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) - 1:11:18
6. Natsuki Omori (Daihatsu) - 1:11:46
7. Kotona Ota (Japan Post) - 1:11:54
8. Beatrice Cheburet (Kenya) - 1:12:33
9. Ikumi Fukura (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:13:33
10. Rie Kawauchi (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:14:47
11. Kotomi Tsubokura (Wacoal) - 1:14:51
12. Ai Ikemoto (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 1:15:32

photo © 2022 Mika Tokairin, all rights reserved
text © 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Ngetich Breaks CR, Murayama and Sasaki Make U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10k

WR holder Agnes Ngetich  soloed a fast one at the 54th edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10k, leading inside the first mile and pulling away the rest of the race to run a 30:07 CR for the win, the fastest time ever on U.S. soil albeit on a slightly net downhill course. On a warm day that saw over 10,000 women finish  Tsigie Gebreselama  was on her own most of the way too, a distant 2nd in 30:53 and 17 seconds up on past champ Hellen Obiri . Further back, 2026 World University Cross Country bronze medalist Amisa Murayama  and 2025 Morinomiyako Ekiden 3rd leg CR breaker Nazuki Sasaki  from 2025 National University Women's Ekiden runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University  made their U.S. debuts. Murayama was targeting the fastest-ever Japanese time at the Mini, 32:37, but struggled on the hills just before 5 km and late in the race, fading to finish 23rd in 34:08. Sasaki, recovering from a stress reaction in her upper back a few months ago, ran a conservative ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more