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Omare Breaks Marugame Half CR by >1 Minute, Etir Takes Collegiate Record


Japan-based Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.) had the best race of her career, breaking 1:04:36 runner Sheila Chepkirui (Kenya) over the second half of the race to win the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon in 1:06:07, 1:15 under the old course record and a PB by a massive 1:49. Omare was actually on mid-1:05 pace at 15 km as she fought to open ground on the more accomplished Chepkirui, but even though she faded over the last 5 km she still had more than enough room to pick up the ¥3,000,000 CR bonus.

Chepkirui was well under the old record too at 1:06:47 for 2nd, and in the other big performance of the women's race Caroline Kariba of 2023 National High School Ekiden champ Kamimura Gakuen H.S. skipped a 10000 m or 10 km debut to jump straight to the half marathon, 14 seconds off the old CR in 1:07:36 for 3rd. Charlotte Purdue (Great Britain) took 4th in a PB 1:08:02, with Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) beating her pre-race projection with a 1:08:51 for 5th in a tuneup for next month's Nagoya Women's Marathon.

The men's race started relatively slowly, but by 10 km it was on sub-hour pace with a big pack including last year's winner Alexander Mutiso (ND Software), collegiate 5000 and 10000 m NR holder Richard Etir (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.), Hakone Ekiden First Stage winner and last year's top Japanese man Kotaro Shinohara (Komazawa Univ.), past Fukuoka International Marathon winner Sondre Nordstad Moen (Norway) and more.

Mutiso and Etir pushed the pace over the second half to pull away, and in the last straight onto the track finish Etir surged for the win, taking 16 seconds off Mekubo Mogusu's 2007-era collegiate record to win in 59:32 and pick up a ¥1,000,000 bonus. Mutiso was next in 59:37, with Etir's teammate Amos Bett beating Moen for 3rd, both clocking 1:00:11. Shinohara was well off his target of Japan's first sub-60 clocking at 1:01:04, but that was still good enough to take the top Japanese spot again this year at 8th overall.

76th Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon

Marugame, Kagawa, 4 Feb. 2024

Women
1. Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (Kenya/U.S.E.) - 1:06:07 - CR, PB
2. Sheila Chepkirui (Kenya) - 1:06:47 (CR)
3. Caroline Kariba (Kenya/Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 1:07:36 - debut
4. Charlotte Purdue (Great Britain) - 1:08:02 - PB
5. Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) - 1:08:51
6. Mao Uesugi (Tokyo Metro) - 1:09:24
7. Sora Shinozakura (Panasonic) - 1:10:06 - debut
8. Yumi Yoshikawa (Uniqlo) - 1:11:22
9. Hikari Onishi (Japan Post) - 1:12:38
10. Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) - 1:12:56
11. Nana Nagashima (Josai Kokusai Univ.) - 1:13:10 - debut
12. Nana Sato (Starts) - 1:14:07
13. Saki Harada (Meijo Univ.) - 1:14:48
14. Haruru Asahi (Uniqlo) - 1:15:35 - debut
15. Ai Onuma (Josai Kokusai Univ.) - 1:16:30

Men
1. Richard Etir (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 59:32 - Univ. NR
2. Alexander Mutiso (Kenya/ND Software) - 59:37
3. Amos Bett (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:00:11 - debut
4. Sondre Nordstad Moen (Norway) - 1:00:11
5. Joseph Razini Lemeteki (Kenya/Yasukawa Denki) - 1:00:30
6. David Shunqeya Neiyiai (Kenya/Reitaku Univ.) - 1:00:32 - PB
7. Cleophas Kandie Meyan (Kenya/Mitsubishi Juko) - 1:00:55
8. Kotaro Shinohara (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:04
9. Koki Asai (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:01:09 - PB
10. Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) - 1:01:11 - PB
11. Hideyuki Tanaka (Toyota) - 1:01:13 - PB
12. Tatsuya Maruyama (Toyota) - 1:01:13 - PB
13. Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:01:13
14. Aoi Ito (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:16 - PB
15. Ryo Goda (Yasukawa Denki) - 1:01:22 - PB
16. Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:01:25
17. Sodai Shimizu (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:01:26 - PB
18. Eikichi Kazaoka (JFE Steel) - 1:01:26 - PB
19. Brett Robinson (Australia) - 1:01:27
20. Hiroto Fujimagari (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:01:28 - PB
21. Joseph Muigai (Kenya/Heisei Kokusai Univ.) - 1:01:29 - PB
22. Dejen Tesfalem (Eritrea/Seisa Univ.) - 1:01:38 - PB
23. Asahi Kuroda (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:39 - PB
24. Taiga Tosen (Surugadai Univ.) - 1:01:40 - PB
25. Daichi Shibata (Chuo Univ.) - 1:01:41 - PB
26. Renato Ogata (Toyo Univ.) - 1:01:42 - debut
27. Kento Otsu (Sunbelx) - 1:01:43 - PB
28. Madoka Tanihara (Osaka Police) - 1:01:43 - PB
29. Masashi Nonaka (Toyota) - 1:01:43
30. Rei Yonemitsu (Konica Minolta) - 1:01:45 - PB
31. Kenshin Ebisawa (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:01:49 - PB
32. Adam Clarke (Great Britain) - 1:01:54 - PB
33. Shuma Yamanaka (Josai Univ.) - 1:01:54 - PB
34. Shota Shiode (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:54 - PB
35. Chiyo Nishikawa (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:01:55 - PB
36. Shinichiro Nakamura (Kyudenko) - 1:01:57 - PB
37. Ryo Yoshida (Soka Univ.) - 1:01:58 - PB
38. Tim Vincent (Australia) - 1:02:01
39. Hiroto Hayashida (Mitsubishi Juko) - 1:02:04
40. Koya Suzuki (Reitaku Univ.) - 1:02:06 - PB
41. Yudai Katakawa (Asia Univ.) - 1:02:06 - PB
42. Hiroto Kuniyasu (Rikkyo Univ.) - 1:02:07 - PB
43. Hiro Konda (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:08 - PB
44. Kyohei Oda (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:02:09 - PB
45. Ren Yamaguchi (Nittai Univ.) - 1:02:10 - PB
46. Atsushi Utsuno (Kanagawa Univ.) - 1:02:12 - PB
47. Tomoya Kitamura (OBRS) - 1:02:13 - PB
48. Ryoma Inoue (Biwako Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:14
49. Sota Morikawa (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) - 1:02:14 - PB
50. Seia Hotta (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:14 - PB
-----
75. Shura Shiino (Fujitsu) - 1:02:58
100. Haruto Kubo (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:03:37 - PB

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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