Skip to main content

Waseda University 3rd-Year Yota Ifuku Breaks Nobeoka Marathon CR in 2:09:26 Debut

The Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon is the least well-known of the four big Japanese men's marathons in five weeks, traditionally a place for debuts and 2nd-tier talent. And for the second year in a row a debuting Waseda University runner took the top spot this time, Yota Ifuku making history as the first runner ever to break 2:11 in Nobeoka with a 2:09:26 school record for the win.

5th on the Hakone Ekiden's Eighth Stage for Waseda six weeks ago, Ifuku was at the front of the pack of 19 at halfway in an ambitious 1:05:02. Just past 25 km he took off with a 15:10 split to 30 km that put him out front by 28 seconds, then went even faster with a 15:06 to 35 km. With a 38-second negative split Ifuku broke the tape in 2:09:26, one minute 39 seconds under the older CR of 2:11:05 set by Yuichi Washio back in 2006.


6th on Hakone's competitive Second Stage for Toyo University, Ren Umezaki was 2nd in his debut in 2:10:19. Corporate leaguer Takashi Soma (Otsuka Seiyaku) joined Ifuku and Umezaki under the old CR at 3rd in a PB 2:10:46. Results were good far down into the field, with five of the top 15 running PBs and the other 10 all debuting at 2:15:11 or better.

Nobeoka only introduced a women's field in 2015, Saori Sugawa setting the CR of 2:44:40 in 2019. This year amateur Akiko Ogawa just missed bettering that record, running a big 1:15 negative split to win in 2:45:31 off a 1:23:23 first half. The top four were all under 3 hours, with a total of 22 women finishing the race versus 339 men.

62nd Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon

Nobeoka, Miyazaki, 11 Feb. 2024

Women
1. Akiko Ogawa (Koyugun T&F Assoc.) - 2:45:31
2. Reina Hayashida (Asahi Yukizai) - 2:50:57
3. Yuki Tomitaka (Izumo AC) - 2:56:14

Men
1. Yota Ifuku (Waseda Univ.) - 2:09:26 - CR, debut
2. Ren Umezaki (Toyo Univ.) - 2:10:19 - debut
3. Takashi Soma (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:10:46 - PB
4. Tatsuya Sumide (Aichi Seiko) - 2:11:29 - PB
5. Yuya Yamashita (Sunbelx) - 2:11:37 - PB
6. Takeshi Nishida (Toyota) - 2:11:41 - debut
7. Yuya Kawata (Subaru) - 2:12:31 - debut
8. Kira Migita (Toyota Kyushu) - 2:12:32 - debut
9. Shusei Ohashi (Kodaira T&F Assoc.) - 2:12:34 - PB
10. Takuma Takemura (SGH) - 2:12:39 - debut
11. Taisei Kato (Asahi Kasei) - 2:13:58 - debut
12. Suguru Otaguro (Nishi Nippon Tetsudo) - 2:14:18 - debut
13. Atsushi Yamato (Toyota) - 2:14:29 - debut
14. Yuta Suzuki (Yasukawa Denki) - 2:15:06 - debut
15. Kazuto Kawabata (SGH) - 2:15:11 - PB
16. Taiyo Watanabe (Togami Denki) - 2:15:40
17. Yusei Yoshida (Mitsubishi Juko) - 2:17:55
18. Tatsuya Yamamoto (Komori Corp.) - 2:18:22
19. Hiroto Uesugi (Soka Univ.) - 2:18:37 - debut
20. Ryoya Sakurai (JFE Steel) - 2:19:15

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

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."
12 comments
Read more

Fukube Breaks 100 mH NR at All-Star Night Games - Japan's Olympians Make Final Tune-Ups

Getting stuck in the shinkansen cancelation headaches yesterday means we're a day late getting to the weekend's track roundup, but better late than never. At the top of the list, women's 100 mH national record holder Mako Fukube (NKK) took 0.04 off her own record to win in 12.69 (+1.2) at the All-Star Night Games in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa in her last race before the Paris Olympics. Other Paris team members won their races too: 4x400 m squad member Takuho Yoshizu (GK Line) took the win in the men's 400 m in 45.89. Men's 400 m hurdler Daiki Ogawa (Toyo Univ.) set a meet record 49.09 for the win. Sumire Hata (Sumitomo Denko) set a women's long jump MR of 6.61 m (+0.8). Marina Saito (Suzuki) and Momone Ueda (Zenrin) both threw over the old MR held by world champion and Paris teammate Haruka Kitaguchi , Saito getting the win with a final attempt of 58.45 m, Ueda next at 57.93 m and 3rd-placer Yuki Yamamoto (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) also going over the old MR at 57
Post a Comment
Read more

Police Arrest 20-Year-Old Man Charged With Assaulting Female Runner at Popular Tokyo Running Spot

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a female runner along the banks of the Tama River in Ota Ward, Tokyo. "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go for a walk and move my body a bit," the man told police. Local resident Hirai Muroyama , 20, of no known occupation, was arrested on charges of sexual assault. He is accused of acts including grabbing the breasts of a woman in her 20s at around 10 p.m. on May 31 along the banks of the Tama River. According to police, the woman was taking a break in her run when Muroyama approached her silently from behind and grabbed her breasts before running away. Under police interrogation Muroyama told investigators, "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go out for a walk and move my body. I'd had a few drinks and was feeling pretty hype. She was totally my type." source article: https://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newsey
Post a Comment
Read more