Skip to main content

National Corporate Half Marathon and 10 km Championships Entry List Highlights


Entry lists are out for the Feb. 11 National Corporate Half Marathon and 10 km Championships in Yamaguchi. The third big half marathon in 3 weeks following Osaka and Marugame, entries are thin on the women's side with no recent sub-1:10 entrants in the half. Rinka Hida (Daiichi Seimei) has the best recent time at 1:10:10 from Osaka last year, with Ikumi Fukura (Otsuka Seiyaku) and Wakana Itsuki (Kyudenko) both coming in under 1:10:30. Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) is the best in women's 10 km with a track 10000 m best of 31:57.81.

Last year's 3rd-placer Ryota Kondo (Mitsubishi Juko) is one of four men on the list with recent bests under 1:01, his 1:00:32 having come at last year's National Corporate Half along with those from Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) and Takashi Nanba (Toenec). 2:06 marathoner Kazuya Nishiyama (Toyota) is also in the mix with a 1:00:41 here two years ago. Shunsuke Shikama (Logisteed) and New Year Ekiden First Stage winner Naoki Ota (Yakult) haven't run a serious half marathon recently, but with both having run 27:50~52 on the track for 10000 m last year they have the ability to be in the lead pack.

52nd National Corporate Half Marathon and 10 km Championships

Entry List Highlights
Yamaguchi, 11 Feb. 2024
times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted

Rinka Hida (Daiichi Seimei) - 1:10:10 (2023 Osaka Half)
Ikumi Fukura (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:10:21 (2021 National Corporate Half)
Wakana Itsuki (Kyudenko) - 1:10:23 (2021 National Corporate Half)
Saya Nishitani (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:10:38 (2021 National Corporate Half)
Yuri Karasawa (Kyudenko) - 1:10:48 (2023 Sanyo Ladies Half)
Shiori Yoshizono (Tenmaya) - 1:10:48 (2023 National Corporate Half)
Hibiki Sakuragawa (Daiichi Seimei) - 1:11:28 (2023 Sanyo Ladies Half)
Saya Nakajima (Edion) - 1:11:47 (2023 National Corporate Half)
Shiho Tachizako (Tenmaya) - 1:11:53 (2023 National Corporate Half)
Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - debut - 31:45.19 (2023 Nationals)

Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) - 31:57.81 (2022, Kyoto)
Chikako Mori (Sekisui Kagaku) - 32:41 (2021 Sanyo Ladies 10 km)
Kadogo Chebotibin (SID Group) - debut - 15:49.82 (2023, Nittai)

Ryota Kondo (Mitsubishi Juko) - 1:00:32 (2023 National Corporate Half)
Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) - 1:00:33 (2023 National Corporate Half)
Kazuya Nishiyama (Toyota) - 1:00:41 (2022 National Corporate Half)
Takashi Nanba (Toenec) - 1:00:46 (2023 National Corporate Half)
Tsuyoshi Bando (Osaka Gas) - 1:01:07 (2022 National Corporate Half)
Joseph Macharia Ndirangu (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:11 (2022 Tokyo Legacy Half)
Masanori Sumida (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:19 (2023 National Corporate Half)
Takahiro Nakamura (Kyocera Kagoshima) - 1:01:22 (2022 National Corporate Half)
Kohei Mukai (Mazda) - 1:01:23 (2022 National Corporate Half)
Akira Tomiyasu (Aisan Kogyo) - 1:01:23 (2022 Osaka Half)
Daisuke Doi (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:01:26 (2022 National Corporate Half)
Shunya Kikuchi (Chugoku Denryoku) - 1:01:33 (2023 Osaka Half)
Shunsuke Kanbe (Komori Corp.) - 1:01:37 (2022 National Corporate Half)
Hiroki Hashimoto (SGH) - 1:01:40 (2023 Marugame Half)
Keita Sakamoto (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:42 (2022 National Corporate Half)
Koki Kamata (Yakult) - 1:01:44 (2023 National Corporate Half)
Joseph Waweru Nganga (Chugoku Denryoku) - 1:01:44 (2022 Osaka Half)
Shin Kimura (Honda) - 1:01:46 (2022 Sapporo Half)
Kenta Usui (Mazda) - 1:01:52 (2022 National Corporate Half)
Hiroyuki Ishikawa (Aisan Kogyo) - 1:01:55 (2022 National Corporate Half)
Yoshiki Oshiro (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:01:56 (2023 National Corporate Half)
Teruya Wada (Nishitetsu) - 1:01:57 (2022 National Corporate Half)
Kyosuke Mafune (Subaru) - 1:01:58 (2023 National Corporate Half)
Shunsuke Shikama (Logisteed) - 27:50.05 (2023, Nittai)
Naoki Ota (Yakult) - 27:52.10 (2023 Nationals)
Peter Kibui Wangari (NTN) - debut - 13:24.73 (2023, Kumamoto)

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview and Streaming (updated)

Japan's winter marathon season of 6 major races in 7-straight weekends wraps up Sunday with the world's largest women-only marathon, the Nagoya Women's Marathon . The weather is looking pretty good, 6˚ at the start rising to 10˚ by the finish and sunny skies, but a moderate 7 m/s NW wind means a headwind finish that might impact the potential for some fast times. Official streaming kicks off at 9:00 a.m. local time. Live results will be here . Sheila Chepkirui won last year in 2:20:40, breaking away from Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba at 30 km and hanging on for the win. Sato negative split a 2:20:59 PB for 2nd, Chumba fading to 3rd in 2:21:36. All 3 are back this time, but they have pretty serious competition from Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Selly Chepyego Kaptich , 2:20:03 in Barcelona 2023. And of course, Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda . Maeda ran 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024 to make the Paris Oly...

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...