Skip to main content

Ichiyama 8th at Copenhagen Marathon


Currently the #10-ranked Japanese man in the marathon with the fastest-ever domestic time at the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) made his international debut at Sunday's Copenhagen Marathon, literally an international debut as it was his first time outside the country. Ichiyama hoped to be in contention to break the 2:08:23 CR and go for the win, and with cool and breezy conditions ran easy in the lead group through 30 km. But something ate away at almost everyone as time went by, several people in the lead men's and women's groups saying humidity, and past 30 km Ichiyama fell off. Falling as low as 9th, he rallied after 40 km to finish 8th in 2:13:07.




"It was different than in Japanese races," he said. "I'm used to bigger packs and more even pacing, but this was a kind of racing I hadn't done before. There's a lot to think about. I didn't feel like I was sweating a lot, but I got really thirsty and started skipping my drinks and only going for water." Paris Olympics-bound Kenyan-born Bahraini Abdi Ali Gelelchu took the win in 2:09:11 with Gadisa Birhanu next in 2:09:55 in his 4th marathon since December and fellow Ethiopian Abebaw Muniye 3rd in 2:10:27.




Also in the men's race, Japanese-based Mongolian Ser-Od Bat-Ochir was in Copenhagen to try to hang on to his 80th-place position in the 80-deep Paris Olympics quota. On the cusp of becoming the first person to ever make six Olympic marathons, Bat-Ochir needed to run at least 2:09:40 to move up to 79th, and he was at risk of being knocked out of 80th in Copenhagen by Canada's Ben Preisner, who needed a 2:11:22 to overtake Ser-Od, Denmark's Jacob Simonsen, who needed a 2:10:13 and top Danish position, and, running simultaneously in Prague, Mongolian rival Bjambajav Tseveenravdan, who needed 2:09:33.

Ser-Od went with the lead group through halfway on 2:08:32 pace before losing touch, and by 25 km he was over what he needed to run 2:09:40. Prague had started half an hour earlier than Copenhagen, and when word came through that Byambajav had run 2:13:22 for 6th that took some of the pressure off. Preisner and Simonsen both went out with the 2:09:59 second group, and when Preisner, who had DNFd last weekend in Hamburg, dropped off it all came down to Simonsen. He stayed in the low 2:10 range, about a minute faster than his 2:11:22 PB from Valencia last year, through 30 km, but like most others he stalled and ultimately crossed the line in 2:11:24 for 7th. With that, Ser-Od held on to 80th despite his 2:19:25 finish in 14th, surviving the day inside the Olympic quota.




Having already made the Olympics with a then-NR 2:26:32 in Tokyo in March, Ser-Od's protege Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh had already had Copenhagen on her schedule as a backup in case she missed the mark in Tokyo and opted to use it to try for something more ambitious as a dry run for Paris. "I'm going to run up front and not care about time," she told JRN pre-race. By 10 km Khishigsaikhan had a 2-second lead over a chase group of five Africans including CR holder Rodah Jepkorir, and by 20 km that was up to 1:09, not quite on CR pace but with a 2:23:45 projection a full minute under rival Munkhzaya Bayartsogt's NR from Seoul in March.

Khishigsaikhan held that lead through 30 km, but as she slowed in the last part of the race the remnants of the chase group closed, then passed her. Ultimately she finished 4th in 2:28:48, holding off Kenyan Caroline Jebet Korir but gunned down just before 40 km by Finnish NR holder Alisa Vainio. Margaret Agai of Kenya took the win in 2:27:31, compatriot Mercy Kwambai 2nd in 2:28:12 and Vainio 3rd in 2:28:21. "Six months ago I would have been happy with this time," Khishigsaikhan said, having run a 2:28:33 PB at the time at December's Taipei Marathon, "but now....I wish I'd been able to hold on a bit longer."



45th Copenhagen Marathon

Copenhagen, Denmark, 5 May 2024

Men
1. Abdi Ali Gelelchu (Bahrain) - 2:09:11
2. Gadisa Birhanu (Ethiopia) - 2:09:55
3. Abebaw Muniye (Ethiopia) - 2:10:27
4. Enock Kinyamal (Kenya) - 2:10:33
5. James Kiplagat (Kenya) - 2:10:58
6. Archie Casteel (Sweden) - 2:11:23
7. Jacob Simonsen (Denmark) - 2:11:24
8. Tsubasa Ichiyama (Japan/Sunbelx) - 2:13:07
9. Adam Lipschitz (South Africa) - 2:13:48
10. Lee Wesselius (Canada) - 2:15:31
-----
14. Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Shin Nihon Jusetsu) - 2:19:25

Women
1. Margaret Agai (Kenya) - 2:27:31
2. Mercy Kwambai (Kenya) - 2:28:12
3. Alisa Vainio (Finland) - 2:28:21
4. Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh (Mongolia) - 2:28:48
5. Caroline Jebet Korir (Kenya) - 2:30:12
6. Deratu Hailu (Ethiopia) - 2:32:50
7. Sylvia Kiberenge (Denmark) - 2:34:05
8. Heather Townsend (Great Britain) - 2:37:31
9. Lorena Meningand (France) - 2:38:05
10. Sara Schou Kristensen (Denmark) - 2:38:38

text and photos © 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...
1 comment
Read more

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...
41 comments
Read more

Chisato Fukushima Selected as First Women`s 100 m Olympian in 56 Years

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080706-00000027-yom-spo http://www.47news.jp/CN/200807/CN2008070601000467.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On July 6 Rikuren announced that it has added women`s 100 m runner Chisato Fukushima (20, Hokkaido HiTec AC) to the Beijing Olympic team. Fukushima will become the first Japanese woman to compete in the Olympic 100 m since Ayako Yoshikawa ran in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Fukushima broke the Olympic B-standard of 11.42 with her national record-tying 11.36 mark at April`s Oda Memorial Meet. Although she won June`s National Track and Field Championships, Fukushima was not initially selected for the team as she did not meet the Olympic A-standard. In light of her victory at today`s Nambu Memorial Meet in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Rikuren reversed its decision and added her to the Olympic team lineup. Fukushima reacted to the news of her Beijing ticket by saying, "It hasn`t really hit me that it`s real yet. I would be honored to be the tri...
Post a Comment
Read more