Skip to main content

Dec. 18 Sanyo Ladies Road Race Elite Field

The 41st Sanyo Ladies Road Race takes place Dec. 18 in Okayama. 119 athletes including qualifiers for the MGC Race 2024 Olympic marathon trials are entered in the half marathon, with another 155 in the 10 km bringing the total to 274 entrants.

MGC qualifiers Kanako Takemoto (Daihatsu), Reia Iwade (Denso) and Mirai Waku (Universal Ent.) lead the half marathon field. Other top names include last year's first Japanese finisher Yumi Yoshikawa (Uniqlo), 5000 m U18 NR holder Shuri Ogasawara (Denso), and local Tenmaya team members Rei Ohara and Shiori Yoshizono. Last year foreign athletes swept the podium. This year all three are set to return, with Zeyituna Husan (Denso) going for the first threepeat in event history.

In the 10 km Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) will likewise being going for the first-ever threepeat, with pressure from 2021 runner-up Naomi Muthoni (Universal Ent.) and others. MGC qualifier Mao Uesugi (Starts) and Tenmaya rookie Shiho Tachizako are also in the field.

The World Athletics-certified courses start and finish at City Light Stadium in Okayama, with the half marathon getting underway at 10:00 and the 10 km at 10:15. 

41st Sanyo Ladies Road Race

Elite Field Highlights
Okayama, 18 Dec. 2022
times listed are best in last 3 years except where noted

Half Marathon
Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.) - 1:07:56 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)
Ayano Ikemitsu (Kagoshima Ginko) - 1:09:16 (Sanyo 2020)
Zeyituna Husan (Denso) - 1:09:24 (Sanyo 2020)
Desta Burka (Denso) - 1:09:31 (Sanyo 2021)
Joanne Kipkemoi (Kyudenko) - 1:09:38 (Sanyo 2021)
Yumi Yoshikawa (Uniqlo) - 1:10:07 (Sanyo 2021)
Martha Mokaya (Canon) - 1:10:18 (Sanyo 2021)
Ryo Koido (Hitachi) - 1:10:20 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)
Yuma Adachi (Kyocera) - 1:10:21 (Osaka 2022)
Shuri Ogasawara (Denso) - 1:10:25 (Sanyo 2020)
Mirai Waku (Univ. Ent.) - 1:10:26 (Sanyo 2020)
Reia Iwade (Denso) - 1:10:43 (Gifu Seiryu 2022)
Minami Yamanouchi (Shimamura) - 1:10:44 (Sanyo 2018)
Kanako Takemoto (Daihatsu) - 1:10:45 (Sanyo 2020)
Rei Ohara (Tenmaya) - 1:10:46 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2021)

Debut
Hellen Ekarare Lobun (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 31:22.89 (Hyogo RC 10000 m, 2022)
Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) - 14:44.83 (Nittai Univ. 5000 m, 2022)

10 km
Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) - 31:11 (Sanyo 2021)
Naomi Muthoni Kariuki (Univ. Ent.) - 31:15 (Sanyo 2021)
Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo) - 31:17.40 (Nat'l Corp. Champs 2022)
Janet Nyiva Mutungi (Sera H.S.) - 31:21 (Sanyo 2021)
Natsuki Sekiya (Daiichi Seimei) - 31:50.17 (Edion Distance 2018)
Misaki Hayashida (Kyudenko) - 32:39.57 (HDC Abashiri 2022)
Mao Uesugi (Starts) - 32:41 (Sanyo 2020)
Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) - 32:41.62 (Isahaya 2021)
Toshika Tamura (Hitachi) - 32:45 (Katsuta 2020)

source article:
translated by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...

Tokyo Marathon Top Japanese Man Tsubasa Ichiyama Works 4 Days a Week, Walked On in College

38,000 people ran the 2025 Tokyo Marathon . Every runner had their own story, but one of the most special was Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx). Despite being on almost nobody's radar, he outran some of the best in the country to finish as the top Japanese man. Ichiyama ran most of the race in the 3rd pace group, going through halfway in 1:02:44 and 30 km in 1:29:13. When the pacers stopped, he showed what he could really do. "I'm not good at downhills, so in the first part it was hard to run smoothly," he said at the post-race press conference. "But after the downhill part ended I got into my rhythm, and I think that helped me over the 2nd half." After dropping Asian Games gold medalist Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) and others, he quickly bore down on the Japanese athletes who had gone out faster in the 2nd pace group. Overtaking Paris Olympics 6th placer Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu), at 39.8 km he caught all-time Japanese #2 man Yohei I...