In its 75th anniversary race the Marugame Half saw new course records in both the women's and men's races and a near-miss on a new Japanese men's NR. Japan-based Kenyan Pauline Kamulu soloed a 1:07:22 CR to win the women's race by 49 seconds, 4 seconds under the old CR and her fastest time since her 1:06:56 for bronze at the 2018 World Half Marathon Championships. Rika Kaseda continued to climb the ranks among Japanese women with a 1:08:11 for 2nd, landing her in the all-time Japanese top 10. Australian duo Isobel Batt-Doyle and Sinead Diver were 3-4 just 2 seconds apart in 1:09:27 and 1:09:29.
© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
In the men's race a lead sextet of Japan-based Kenyans Alexander Mutiso, Cleophas Kandie and Andrew Lorot, corporate leaguer Tomoki Ota, and collegiate runners Kotaro Shinohara and Reishi Yoshida went through 10 km together in 10 km before splitting into two groups. Lorot fell off the front group before 15 km and Yoshida off the back group by 15 km, leaving Mutiso and Kandie head-to-head up front and Ota and Shinohara on NR pace. In the last kick Mutiso got the win 30 seconds under the old CR in 59:17, the fastest time ever run in Japan, with Kandie 1 second behind him. Lorot was a distant 3rd but only 7 seconds over the old CR in 59:54.
Ota and Shinohara couldn't hold it together over the final 5 km and faded just off the 1:00:00 Japanese NR, Ota taking 4th in 1:00:08. Shinohara, who runs for 2023 Hakone Ekiden champ Komazawa University, was 5th in 1:00:11, the fastest time ever by a Japanese-born collegian. Yoshida hung on to take 6th in 1:00:31, also under the old JPN collegiate best of 1:00:40 set by Shinohara's teammate Chikara Yamano last February. Along with Ota, the Toyota corporate team put two others, Minato Oishi and Kazuya Nishiyama, inside the top 10, both under 1:01:20, and one more, Yusuke Nishiyama, under 1:02 in 1:01:56 for 19th. All told 56 men were under 63 minutes, one of the better years in Marugame's 75-year history.
75th Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon
Marugame, Kagawa, 5 Feb. 2023
Women
1. Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) - 1:07:22 - CR
2. Rika Kaseda (Daihatsu) - 1:08:11
3. Isobel Batt-Doyle (Australia) - 1:09:27
4. Sinead Diver (Australia) - 1:09:29
5. Sarah Pagano (U.S.A.) - 1:10:15
6. Da-Eun Jeong (South Korea) - 1:11:19
7. Mizuki Tanimoto (Tenmaya) - 1:11:48
8. Yuki Nakamura (Panasonic) - 1:12:05
9. Yukari Abe (Kyocera) - 1:12:15
10. Eloise Wellings (Australia) 1:12:17
Men
1. Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) - 59:17 - CR, ACR
2. Cleophas Kandie (Mitsubishi Juko) - 59:18 (CR)
3. Andrew Lorot (Subaru) - 59:54
4. Tomoki Ota (Toyota) - 1:00:08
5. Kotaro Shinohara (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:00:11
6. Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:00:31
7. Minato Oishi (Toyota) - 1:01:15
8. Kazuya Nishiyama (Toyota) - 1:01:19
9. Jack Rayner (Australia) - 1:01:24
10. Hiroki Wakabayashi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:25
11. Yuito Yamamoto (Josai Univ.) - 1:01:34
12. Takuma Yamakawa (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:36
13. Ryu Takaku (Yakult) - 1:01:39
14. Hiroki Hashimoto (SGH) - 1:01:40
15. Goki Takayama (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:42
16. Katsutoshi Monoe (Kao) - 1:01:45
17. Taishi Ito (Waseda Univ.) - 1:01:50
18. Sodai Shimizu (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:01:52
19. Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota) - 1:01:56
20. Atsushi Shobu (Waseda) - 1:02:00
21. Shota Shiode (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:01
22. Rintaro Takeda (Yakult) - 1:02:01
23. Rui Aoki (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:02
24. Sho Fukuda (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:03
25. Haruki Abe (Chuo. Univ.) - 1:02:05
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40. Dejen Tesfalem Weldu (Eritrea) - 1:02:31
47. Riley Cocks (Australia) - 1:02:43
50. Itsuki Hirabayashi (Josai Univ.) - 1:02:49
56. Yugo Nakamura (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:02:59
75. Daiki Shibata (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:56
100. Sora Hanatani (Fukuoka Univ.) - 1:04:59
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