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)

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Batt-Doyle and Strintzos Break Records at Launceston Half

Australians Isobel Batt-Doyle and Haftu Strintzos turned in record-breaking performances to win the McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania. Running with a private male pacer, NR holder Batt-Doyle dusted the field with the fastest half marathon ever by an Australian woman on Australian soil, a 1:08:46 CR that put her 2 and a half minutes ahead of runner-up Genevieve Gregson . Last year's runner-up Yumi Yoshikawa was almost a minute back from Gregson in 3rd in 1:12:03, but was almost run down by club runner Ayaka Shimoyamada . Starting slow in her international debut, Shimoyamada moved up from 7th over the 2nd half of the race to finish 4th in 1:12:06, kicking hard in the home straight to try to catch Yoshikawa and momentarily blacking out after finishing. Kaho Onishi was 7th in 1:12:45 in her own international debut. The men's half had pacing set at 2:53/km to try to deliver the first-ever sub-61 half marathon on Australian soil. CR holde...

CHN and JPN National Records Go Down - Weekend Track Update

There weren't any Japanese athletes in action at the Rabat Diamond League meet Sunday, but 2 lower-tier domestic meets produced new national records. At the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama, Samuel Kibathi (Toyota) led the top 5 in the men's 10000 m under 28 minutes in 27:39.97. In 3rd, China's Wenjie Wang took just over a second off his own NR from the same meet last year, setting a new record of 27:47.53. His teammate Haoran Tang was 6th in a 28:27.44 PB, with the top Japanese time in the race being a 28:33.39 for 8th from Jin Yuasa (Toyota). Amazingly, Wang and Tang were back the next day on day 2 of the Nittai meet, Wang running a PB of 13:35.58 for 4th in the A-heat and Tang winning the B-heat in a PB of 13:38.80. Isaac Ndiema took the A-heat in 13:26.49, with the fastest Japanese time going to Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu) with a 13:35.94 for 5th behind Wang. Other Nittai highlights: Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) won a photo finish against Yua Nagamori ...

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