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Rui Aoki Wins National University Men's Half Marathon - Weekend Results


Yuka Ando's win at the Nagoya Women's Marathon was the big news of the weekend, but there were other high-level races happening, even in Nagoya. Held in parallel with the marathon, the Nagoya City Half Marathon saw Australians Natalie Rule and Ed Goddard take easy wins by about 2.5 minutes each, Rule in 1:13:57 and Goddard in 1:04:01. The new Biwako Marathon also had a non-Japanese winner, China's Yousheng Guan scoring 1st in 2:14:58 with Japan's Hirohito Sugai next in 2:16:40. Mikiko Ota won the women's race in 2:50:44. The Shizuoka Marathon returned for its first running in five years, with club runner Shumpei Oda leading the top 7 men under 2:20 in 2:15:36. Women's winner Remi Tanaka ran 2:41:23, beating runner-up Ayumi Sano by exactly 7 minutes.

And in Tokyo, Rui Aoki continued what has been a great season so far for Koku Gakuin University with a win at the National University Men's Half Marathon. Aoki and Hiro Konda of Chuo Gakuin University were way out front of the rest of the field, Aoki pulling away for the win in 1:02:06 and Konda next in 1:02:19. Shinsaku Kudo of Waseda University out kicked Chuo University's Hinata Shirakawa for 3rd, 1:02:29 to 1:02:30, with winner Aoki's teammate Hikaru Tsujihara 5th in 1:02:37.

Although Aoki's winning time was relatively conservative, depth was like always:

sub-1:03 - 11
sub-1:04 - 69
sub-1:05 - 144
sub-1:06 - 242
sub-1:07 - 335
sub-1:08 - 436
sub-1:09 - 510
sub-1:10 - 594

National University Men's Half Marathon

Tachikawa, Tokyo, 10 March 2024

1. Rui Aoki (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:06
2. Hiro Konda (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:19
3. Shinsaku Kudo (Waseda Univ.) - 1:02:29
4. Hinata Shirakawa (Chuo Univ.) - 1:02:30
5. Hikaru Tsujihara (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:37
6. Shota Shiode (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:46
7. Eiki Kogure (Soka Univ.) - 1:02:48
8. Yu Fukahori (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 1:02:50
9. Yosuke Harada (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 1:02:58
10. Naoyuki Ikoma (Kokushikan Univ.) - 1:02:58
11. Takumu Kudo (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:50
12. Teruki Shimada (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:03:00
13. Hiroki Yamanaka (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:03:02
14. Goki Takayama (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:03
15. Kaisei Yasuhara (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:03:04
16. Haruki Abe (Chuo Univ.) - 1:03:04
17. Kosei Shiraishi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:05
18. Kenshin Ebisawa (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:03:08
19. Kosei Aoki (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:09
20. Ryo Yoshida (Soka Univ.) - 1:03:12
21. Yujiro Kanno (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:03:13
22. Shun Inami (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:15
23. Riku Hirota (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:03:17
24. Akito Noda (Hosei Univ.) - 1:03:17
25. Ryusei Kawachi (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:03:18
-----
50. Taisei Kobayashi (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:03:38
75. Sora Saito (Soka Univ.) - 1:04:12
100. Hideyoshi Haseda (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:31
125. Rintaro Motoyama (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:48
150. Shigeharu Takahashi (Heisei Kokusai Univ.) - 1:05:03
175. Shion Nishinaka (Heisei Kokusai Univ.) - 1:05:25
200. Hiroto Sakamoto (Surugadai Univ.) - 1:05:38
225. Takumi Tominaga (Takushoku Univ.) - 1:05:52
250. Hikaru Tomomura (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:06:03
300. Ren Waseda (Surugadai Univ.) - 1:06:39
350. Shuta Arai (Asia Univ.) - 1:07:10
400. Takumi Sakakibara (Reitaku Univ.) - 1:07:37
450. Makoto Muroi (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 1:08:12
500. Kido Morimoto (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:08:55
550. Takuma Yoshida (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:09:29
594. Shintaro Kinoshita (Shinshu Univ.) - 1:09:59

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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