Sadakata and Ichiyama Win Hakodate Half, NR Holder Suzuki Back in First Race Since Tokyo '22

Sunday's other big race in Hokkaido was the Hakodate Half Marathon and Marathon, where members of Japan's marathon squad for August's Budapest World Championships and qualifiers for October's MGC Race Olympic marathon trials tune up for their races. In the men's half marathon, Shun Sadakata held off Evans Kipkemei to take the win by 2 seconds in a PB and CR 1:01:37. Hideyuki Tanaka took 3rd in 1:01:40, with Dan Kiplangat the only other runner under 62 in 1:01:54 for 4th.

Half marathon NR holder Yusuke Ogura was 6th in 1:02:38, and close behind him was marathon NR holder Kengo Suzuki, 7th in 1:02:46. For Suzuki it was the first time he'd made it to the starting line of a race since the March, 2022 Tokyo Marathon, and as the first MGC qualifier to finish in Hakodate his performance there was good enough to generate a collective sigh of relief. Budapest marathon team member Kazuya Nishiyama didn't have the same kind of day, only 15th in 1:03:58.

Women-only marathon NR holder Mao Ichiyama took the top spot in the women's half marathon, running 1:10:23. MGC qualifier Mizuki Tanimoto and track runner Yuka Takashima were 2nd and 3rd in 1:10:58 and 1:11:58, with 30 km NR holder Honami Maeda 6th in 1:12:32.

In the marathon, MGC qualifier Naoki Okamoto won by over two minutes in a training run effort 2:15:56, a CR by over 2 minutes. Club runner Yukie Matsumura won the women's marathon in 2:45:46.

Hakodate Half Marathon

Hakodate, Hokkaido, 25 June 2023

Women's Half Marathon

1. Mao Ichiyama (Shiseido) - 1:10:23

2. Mizuki Tanimoto (Tenmaya) - 1:10:58

3. Yuka Takashima (Shiseido) - 1:11:58

4. Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) - 1:12:01

5. Saki Tokoro (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:12:18

6. Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) - 1:12:32

7. Momoko Watanabe (Tenmaya) - 1:13:15

8. Hikaru Kitagawa (Osaka Geijutsu Univ.) - 1:13:37

9. Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) - 1:15:12

10. Arisa Nakao (Universal Entertainment) - 1:15:54

Men's Half Marathon

1. Shun Sadakata (Mazda) - 1:01:37 - CR

2. Evans Kipkemei (JFE Steel) - 1:01:39

3. Hideyuki Tanaka (Toyota) - 1:01:40

4. Dan Kiplangat (JFE Steel) - 1:01:54

5. Ryuichi Hashimoto (Press Kogyo) - 1:02:31

6. Yusuke Ogura (Yakult) - 1:02:38

7. Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu) - 1:02:46

8. Paul Onyiego (Fujisan no Meisui) - 1:02:54

9. Yudai Shimazu (GMO) - 1:03:02

10. Masaru Aoki (Kao) - 1:03:11

Women's Marathon

1. Sachie Matsumura (Nike) - 2:45:46

2. Kasumi Takahama (unattached) - 2:56:54

3. Emi Saito (unattached) - 2:58:26

Men's Marathon

1. Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:15:56 - CR

2. Takuma Shibata (Komori Corp.) - 2:18:08

3. Takuma Kumagai (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:22:39

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved