Skip to main content

Karanja and Ichiyama Win Sendai International Half Marathon


Running through the lush green of the city, 8000 people ran the June 4 Sendai International Half Marathon, double the number in last year's corona-limited comeback edition.

In the men's race, a trio of international athletes, Joseph Karanja, Charles Kamau and Benard Kimeli, led early and battled over the last 5 km. Nearing the track for the finish, Karanja broke free to win in 1:01:49. It was his first victory in Sendai.

Running the women's race for the first time, Tokyo Olympics marathon 8th-placer Mao Ichiyama won in 1:11:38. Masayuki Higuchi and Tsubasa Kina won the men's and women's wheelchair divisions.

Sendai International Half Marathon

Sendai, Miyagi, 4 June 2023

Women
1. Mao Ichiyama - 1:11:38
2. Sakiho Tsutsui - 1:12:04
3. Joan Kipkemoi - 1:12:33
4. Chiharu Ikeda - 1:12:53
5. Hikari Onishi - 1:13:10
6. Nanami Aoki - 1:13:52
7. Rinka Hida - 1:14:21
8. Yumeno Yamazaki - 1:14:28
9. Eriko Otsuka - 1:15:01
10. Shihoka Kato - 1:15:07

Men
1. Joseph Karanja - 1:01:49
2. Charles Kamau - 1:02:03
3. Benard Kimeli - 1:02:29
4. Kiyoshi Koga - 1:02:42
5. Patrick Wambui - 1:02:55
6. Yuta Shimoda - 1:03:10
7. Naoki Koyama - 1:03:26
8. Yusuke Ogura - 1:03:29
9. Masashi Nonaka - 1:03:32
10. Atsumi Ashiwa - 1:03:35

Women's Wheelchair
1. Tsubasa Kina - 56:24

Men's Wheelchair
1. Masayuki Higuchi - 48:20

source article:
translated and edited by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Stefan said…
Given the high winds and high temperatures on the day, I think Mao Ichiyama is slowly working her way back after her rib injury and it is fair to disregard the finish time and simply focus on the win. Well done to her. With 4 months to achieve peak fitness for the MGC race I think she is at a very good starting position.
June 5, 2023 at 12:00 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

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...
1 comment
Read more

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...
1 comment
Read more

Toyota Wins New Expo Ekiden

A new, nominally one-off event held as part of Osaka's hosting of Expo 2025, Sunday's ACN Expo Ekiden pit top top corporate and collegiate teams against each other on a 7-stage, 54.5 km course. The new race lost a bit of steam when New Year Ekiden runner-up Honda declined to participate, when winner Asahi Kasei pulled out days before the race, and when the top two teams at the Hakone Ekiden, Aoyama Gakuin University and Komazawa University , didn't field A-list lineups. In their absence it was pretty much a blowout for New Year Ekiden 3rd-placer Toyota , who led start-to-finsh off a great leading run by Yamato Yoshii and stage best titles on 4 of the 7 individual legs to win in 2:32:48. Fujitsu came on strong over the 2nd half with wins by 4th and 5th runners Daniel Kosen and Kazuya Shiojiri and strong runs on the final stages by Hiroki Matsueda and Kengo Suzuki to move into 2nd, finishing 1:14 behind Toyota in 2:34:02. Hakonen 3rd-placer Koku Gakuin University b...
1 comment
Read more