Elite Field for Oct. 15 Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon

Scheduled to happen in parallel with the MGC Race Paris Olympic marathon trials, the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon has announced the elite fields for its second running Oct. 15. Straight from this spring's Barcelona Half Marathon, Gladys Chepkurui and Charles Langat are the top internationals coming in from abroad at 1:05:46 and 58:53.

Chepkurui's only real competition is Japan-based Dolphine Omare, winner at last year's National Corporate Half Marathon in 1:07:56. Langat has more serious competition from Japan-based Alexander Mutiso, 58:48 at last year's RAK Half among others, and another five in the mid-to-high 59-minute range. Sub-27:20 10000 m runners Evans Keitany, Jonathan Ndiku and Timothy Kibet should also factor in.

Given that the race will happen at the same time as the Olympic marathon trials there aren't a lot of high-level Japanese athletes in the race. The top woman in Mao Kiyota, 1:11:18 at this race last year, with Toyo University's Kazuki Matsuyama the only Japanese man with a current sub-61 time at 1:00:43 from last year.

The para fields are solid, with both the women's and men's races full of Paralympic medalists and national record holders in different categories. Top women include Tsubasa Kina, Wakako Tsuchida and Misato Michishita, with the men's field featuring Tomoki Suzuki, Tsutomu Nagata, Tadashi Horikoshi and Kenya Karasawa among others.

2nd Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon Elite Field

Tokyo, 15 Oct. 2023

complete elite field listing

times listed are best within last 3 years except where noted

Women

Gladys Chepkurui (Kenya) - 1:05:46 (Barcelona 2023)

Dolphine Omare (Kenya/U.S.E.) - 1:07:56 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Hellen Ekalale (Kenya/Toyota Jidoshokki) - 1:09:53 (Gifu Seiryu Half 2023)

Mao Kiyota (Suzuki AC) - 1:11:18 (Tokyo Legacy Half 2022)

Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab Yamaguchi) - 1:12:57 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2021)

Natsuki Ogawa (Suzuki AC) - 1:15:38 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2022)

Para Women

T54 - Tsubasa Kina (Ryukyu Sports Support) - 48:35 (Hamanasu 2023)

T54 - Wakako Tsuchida (Will Raise) - 48:46 (Hamanasu 2022)

T53 - Kazumi Nakayama (unattached) - 1:04:07

T20 - Ayami Takahashi (Miyagi TFC) - 1:33:15 (Sendai Half 2023)

T12 - Misato Michishita (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:26:58 (Hofu 2019)

T11 - Natsumi Inoguchi (Mizuho Financial Group) - 1:31:41 (Tokyo Legacy 2022)

Men

Alexander Mutiso (Kenya/ND Software) - 58:48 (RAK Half 2022)

Charles Langat (Kenya) - 58:53 (Barcelona 2023)

Benard Kimeli (Kenya/Fujitsu) - 59:32 (Road to Records 2022)

Bedan Karoki (Kenya/Toyota) - 59:37 (Buenos Aires 2023)

Joseph Karanja (Kenya/Aichi Seiko) - 59:48 (Madrid 2021)

Tsegay Kidane (Ethiopia) - 59:49 (Antrim 2023)

Andrew Lorot (Kenya/YKK) - 59:54 (Marugame 2023)

Kazuki Matsuyama (Toyo Univ.) - 1:00:43 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2022)

Evans Keitany (Kenya/Toyota Boshoku) - 27:11.88 (Hachioji 2022)

Jonathan Ndiku (Kenya/Logisteed) - 27:12.84 (Nittai Univ. 2022)

Timothy Kibet (Kenya/Makes)- 27:17.41 (Hengelo 2021)

Jackson Kavesa (Kenya/Chuo Hatsujo) - 27:38.50 (Nittai Univ. 2022)

Para Men

T70 - Koichiro Yamanaka (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 1:08:41 (Yokohama 2008)

T54 - Tomoki Suzuki (Toyota) - 38:32 (Oita 2021)

T46 - Tsutomu Nagata (Niigata T&F Assoc.) - 1:10:57 (Beppu Oita 2022)

T20 - Yoshitatsu Hishinuma (Miyagi TFC) - 1:09:21 (National ID Half 2023)

T12 - Tadashi Horikoshi (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 1:08:19 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2013)

T11 - Kenya Karasawa (Subaru) - 1:08:30 (Tokyo Legacy Half 2022)

Ngetich and Mutiso Take Down Tokyo Legacy Half CR

In its 5th edition the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon scored 2 new course records via Kenyans from the Ikaika agency, with 10 km WR holder Agnes Ngetich blasting 3 minutes off the old record to win by over 4 in 1:04:23, and Alexander Mutiso skimming just 1 second under the CR for the win by 5 seconds in 59:51. The 2 races played out completely differently, even if the paydays were the same for the winners. Surrounded by an envelope of male runners all the way to the final 100 m, Ngetich was out hard on the downhill in the first 5 km, hitting it on sub-64 pace in 15:08 before leveling out on the flat middle 10 km. Her next 2 splits projected to 1:04:09 and 1:04:17, and even with the uphill back to the stadium in the last 5 km she didn't fall far off from that, winning in 1:04:23. Runner-up Tabitha Njeri Kamau was nearly a mile back in 1:08:28, with Kamau's Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo teammate Kazuna Kanetomo dropping a 1:10:17 PB for 3rd. Now an independent, track Olympian Kaede Ha...

Kipyegon Repeats, Toyo Wins Hakone Ekiden Qualifier in First Appearance in 21 Years

Back for the first time in 21 years after a disastrous 14th-place finish at the 102nd Hakone Ekiden this past January, Toyo University hit one out of western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park with a solid win at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai, the half marathon that serves as the official qualifying race for the 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The top 10 teams in the Hakone auto-qualify for the following year, with the rest having to run the Yosenkai in October with a squad of 10 to 16 runners out of which the top 10 score on aggregate time, with the 10 fastest schools joining the Hakone field and top individuals from non-qualifying teams names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team to make up the complete Hakone field of 21. Driven in large part by an aggressive run from 3rd-year Yu Miyazaki , one of only 2 Japanese athletes to go with the big African contingent up front, Toyo won in 10:31:30, 1:03:09 or 2:59.6/km per athlete. As the first team to have broken the 3:00/km average pace barrie...

Route Inn Hotels Win National Corporate Women's Ekiden Qualifier for First Time

After Saturday's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying race in Tokyo, 2nd-tier corporate women's teams were in Fukuoka for their own national championships qualifying race, the Princess Ekiden . With Queens Ekiden 19-placer Otsuka Seiyaku a DNS, 30 teams lined up for the 6-stage, 42.195 km race where the top 16 would go on to join the top 8 from last year's Queens Ekiden at next month's national race. Coming right in the middle of the international fall marathon season several teams had people still tired from Berlin and Chicago, with Daihatsu fielding Rika Kaseda and Natsuki Omori from Berlin, Tokyo Metro sending out its own Berlin duo of Mao Uesugi and Ayumi Morita , and Kraftia not playing its top member Yuka Akasaki after her solid run in Chicago last week. After a fast start from eventual 9th-placer Denso 's Rio Matsutani , Daihatsu took over on the Second Stage and held it until the Fifth, where a tired Omori dropped to 3rd. Mayuka Fujita from Route Inn H...

japan running news

Search This Blog