Zeyituna Husan and Ibrahim Hassan Break Beppu-Oita Mainchi Marathon CR

In its 71st edition the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon saw new course records in both the women's and men's races. On a cold and slightly windy day Japan-based Ethiopian Zeyituna Husan took advantage of the big crowds of amateur men at her pace, going through halfway in 1:14:44 en route in her debut to win in 2:31:41. Her time took 1:19 off the previous record set in 2018 by Hiroko Yoshitomi.

Excellent pacing that saw every 5 km split through 30 km in the men's race land in the 15:01 to 15:03 range and a big pack that rolled with it set up a tough last 12 km. Djibouti's Ibrahim Hassan inched it up a notch as soon as the pacers were done, covering the next two 5 km in 14:59 each. That gave him a short lead over Kenyan Daniel Kipchumba, but Hassan almost lost it. Deeply in the zone, he didn't notice the turn into the stadium for the track finish and ran into the back of the camera truck. Kipchumba surged to take advantage of Hassan's loss, but Hassan managed to pull it back together and hold on for the win by 5 seconds in a world-leading 2:06:43, a negative split even with the lost time. Hassan's time broke the Djibouti NR, set 9 years before he was born, by 24 seconds, and was the first 2:06 in Beppu-Oita history, beating last year's CR by 1:04.

Wrong turn! pic.twitter.com/A5l1bc1ltn
— Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) February 5, 2023

The main Japanese pack couldn't match that closing speed over the last 12 km, but both 3rd-placer Tsubasa Ichiyama, 2:07:44, and 4th-placer Shungo Yokota, 2:07:47, bettered or tied the old CR. The 22-year-old Yokota also had the distinction of breaking the 2:08:12 collegiate marathon record set in 2003 by current Chuo University head coach Masakazu Fujiwara. 5th and 6th-place Kento Kikutani and Shin Kimura made it under 2:08 as well, with the next three under 2:09 and another four sub-2:10.

Ichiyama, Yokota, Kimura and 7th-placer Tsukasa Koyama all joined the ranks of qualifiers for October's MGC Race Olympic marathon trials, with 10th-place Naoya Sakuda and 13th-place Kazuki Muramoto also making it in through the two-race sub-2:10 average option. 9th-place Yuichi Yasui, 11th-place Takashi Ichida and 12th-place Riki Nakanishi all broke 2:10 in Beppu but will have to try one more time before the end-of-May qualifying deadline to hit the two-race standard. The Ottawa Marathon should be packed with Japanese men shooting for that desperate last chance.

71st Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon

Beppu, Oita, 5 Feb. 2023

complete results

Women

1. Zeyituna Husan (Ethiopia/Denso) - 2:31:41 - CR

2. Rieko Koshi (Emoto) - 2:44:00

3. Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) - 2:47:51

4. Sonoka Nakayama (Uchida AC) - 2:53:06

5. Mai Fushita (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 2:53:49

Men

1. Ibrahim Hassan (Djibouti) - 2:06:43 - CR, NR, WL

2. Daniel Kipchumba (Kenya) - 2:06:48

3. Tsubasa Ichiyama (Komori Corp.) - 2:07:44

4. Shungo Yokota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 2:07:47 - Univ. NR

5. Kento Kikutani (Toyota Boshoku) - 2:07:53

6. Shin Kimura (Honda) - 2:07:55

7. Tsukasa Koyama (Subaru) - 2:08:00

8. Tatsuya Maruyama (Toyota) - 2:08:26

9. Yuichi Yasui (Toyota) - 2:08:48

10. Naoya Sakuda (JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:09:06

11. Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 2:09:15

12. Riki Nakanishi (Toenec) - 2:09:34

13. Kazuki Muramoto (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:09:41

14. Kento Otsu (Toyota Kyushu) - 2:10:13

15. Masaki Tsuda (Nishitetsu) - 2:10:40

The 2023 Hakone Ekiden Champs Komazawa University at the United Airlines NYC Half

2023 Hakone Ekiden champion Komazawa University 's 1st and 8th runners from its winning team Kensuke Tsubura and Yuto Akahoshi were at the United Airlines NYC Half Sunday with head coach Hiroaki Oyagi and his wife Kyoko Oyagi as part of the partnership between race organizers NYRR and November's Ageo City Half Marathon set up by JRN in 2012. For both athletes it was the first time for them to ever go outside Japan. Akahoshi, a 3rd-year at Komazawa who ran his PB of 1:02:00 at Ageo last fall, lasted longer in the main pack, staying with the group that ended up filling 4th through 14th after the breakaway move up the East Side by world record holders Jacob Kiplimo and Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda and Moroccan Zouhair Talbi . In the last 5 km he dropped back to finish 14th in 1:03:49, just behind 2022 Fukuoka International Marathon winner Maru Teferi of Israel. "My goal was to come here and try to stay with some of the best athletes in the world, so I'm pretty disap

Where Japan's Paris Olympic Marathon Trials Qualification Is At

Last Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon was the last of the main chances for Japanese marathoners to qualify for the Oct. 15 MGC Race, the country's official marathon trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the trials the top 2 finishers will be named to the Olympic team, with the 3rd finisher provisionally in and the 4th and 5th placers named provisional alternates. After that it's one last turn through the winter 2023-24 season of the big domestic races where people will have the chance to steal the 3rd spot on the team and bump the 3rd-placer at the trials down to alternate. The deadline for qualifying for the trials is May 31, and there are still a few smaller domestic races like this Sunday's Tokushima Marathon and April's Nagano Marathon, and overseas races with a World Athletics elite label or better where those who haven't qualified yet can try to make a miracle happen. But for the most part, almost all the real contenders are already in. 62 men and 29

Shinohara Wins National University Half Marathon, 215 Go Sub-1:06

Fresh off becoming the fastest-ever Japanese-born collegiate half marathoner with a 1:00:11 in Marugame last month, 2023 Hakone Ekiden champ Komazawa University 2nd-year Kotaro Shinohara won the National University Half Marathon Sunday in Tokyo's western suburb of Tachikawa. In warm conditions the dense lead group ran relatively conservatively, on track to go just under 63 minutes. But entering Tachikawa's Showa Kinen Park for a final 5 km of undulations and sharp turns Shinohara turned it on to pull away, winning easily in 1:02:16. Another of the pre-race favorites, sub-28 10000 m runner Reishi Yoshida of Hakone non-qualifier Chuo Gakuin University was 2nd in 1:02:29. Another Hakone non-qualifier, Tokyo Nogyo University 's Neo Namiki looked set to take 3rd. But in the last km Rei Matsunaga of Hosei University , famed for trying to run away with last year's Kanto Regionals 5000 m versus 3000 m SC NR holder Ryuji Miura , came up to pass Namiki, stealing 3rd in 1:0

japan running news

Search This Blog