'18 World Half Bronze Medalist Kamulu and Tokyo Olympic Marathon Trials Winner Nakamura Take Humid Hokkaido Marathon

2018 World Half Marathon Championships bronze medalist Pauline Kamulu Kaveke and Tokyo Olympics marathon trials winner Shogo Nakamura survived tough conditions, 22˚C at the start with 82% humidity, sunny skies and almost no wind, to take the 2024 Hokkaido Marathon Sunday in Sapporo.

Both running their debuts, Kamulu and Shiho Tachizako ran steadily around 2:28-flat pace surrounded by a group of amateur men, staying together until just before 30 km when Tachizako started to fade. Kamulu struggled with the hot conditions late in the race and could only watch the clock as sub-2:30 slipped away, looking very tired as she crossed the finish line in 2:31:04. Tachizako faded to 2:33:47 for 2nd, but even that was good enough to easily beat the rest of the field, with last year's 2nd-placer Ayano Ikeuchi 3rd in 2:35:26 in her third marathon so far this year.

Nakamura had said pre-race that he didn't care about time and was only focused on getting in the win, and that was exactly how he ran, ignoring the early action and staying near the front of the main pack until he made his initial move at 30 km. That got rid of the pretenders, with only 2:08~2:10 men Takeshi Soma, Atsumi Ashiwa and Masaru Aoki, and 2:18 amateur Ryuichi Yoshioka getting back on board. Soma countered with an attack after 34 km, but Nakamura quickly reeled him back in and made his real move with 5 km to go.

Yoshioka was the only one to try to follow, but it was all Nakamura the rest of the way, scoring his first win since his Olympic trials victory in 2019 with a 2:15:36 for 1st. Yoshioka was elated in the home stretch with a 2:16:28 for 2nd, a 2-minute PB and the only runner male or female in the top 10 to PB. Nakamura's toughest competition still standing when he dropped his big move, Ashiwa out kicked Soma and Aoki for 3rd in 2:16:40.

Osaka Marathon winner Kiyoto Hirabayashi ran Hokkaido as a training run, jogging in to a 70th-place finish in 2:41:19. The next-fastest man on paper after Hirabayashi with a 2:07:58 win in Beppu-Oita in February, Japan-based Ethiopian Derese Workneh was a DNF near 30 km.

Hokkaido Marathon

Sapporo, Hokkaido, 25 Aug. 2024

Women

1. Pauline Kamulu Kaveke (Kenya/Route Inn Hotels) - 2:31:04 - debut

2. Shiho Tachizako (Tenmaya) - 2:33:47 - debut

3. Ayano Ikeuchi (Denso) - 2:35:26

4. Yuko Kikuchi (Shimamura) - 2:36:50

5. Yuri Mitsune (18 Ginko) - 2:37:08

6. Asuka Yamamoto (Universal Entertainment) - 2:39:14

7. Nanami Aoki (Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:40:07

8. Tomomi Sawahata (Sawahatters) - 2:40:15

9. Ayami Hirano (Noritz) - 2:41:40 - debut

10. Kana Masuda (stylish) - 2:48:14

Men

1. Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) - 2:15:36

2. Ryuichi Yoshioka (Honda Tochigi) - 2:16:28 - PB

3. Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda) - 2:16:40

4. Takeshi Soma (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:16:43

5. Masaru Aoki (Kao) - 2:16:46

6. Takumi Komatsu (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:18:09

7. Toshiya Sato (Toyota) - 2:18:42 - debut

8. Hiromasa Kurahashi (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 2:19:03

9. Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Yonezawa B of E) - 2:19:36

10. Takuya Kumashiro (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 2:19:46

11. Kazuto Kawabata (SGH) - 2:20:17

12. Yuma Morii (Kyoto T&F Assoc.) - 2:21:18

13. Naoya Sato (Miraspo) - 2:21:37

14. Takayuki Matsuura (Fukuoka T&F Assoc.) - 2:22:09

15. Kensuke Yamaguchi (Toyota Kyushu) - 2:23:16

16. Yueqing Zhen (China) - 2:23:16

17. Chaoqing Zhen (China) - 2:23:16

18. Hyuma Abe (Team Nitro) - 2:23:54

19. Yuki Suzuki (Kao) - 2:24:17

20. Daichi Atsuura (ND Software) - 2:25:50

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26. Daisuke Hosomori (YKK) - 2:28:11

34. Ren Umezaki (Toyo Univ.) - 2:32:21

40. Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:34:03

56. Yuki Nakamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:38:32

70. Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 2:41:19

196. Daichi Kamino (MABP) - 2:53:55

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DNF - Derese Workneh (Ethiopia/Hiramatsu Byoin)

Japan's First Goldless Day - Asian Athletics Championships Day Four Highlights

Day 4 of the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships was the first without a single gold medal going to Japan, but there were still enough silvers and bronzes to go around. Robyn Lauren Brown of the Philippines outclassed the rest of the women's 400 mH final field, taking gold in 57.50. Eri Utsunomiya and Ami Yamamoto made it a Japanese 2-3, Utsunomiya running 57.73 for silver and Yamamoto 57.80 for bronze. Yusaku Kodama also scored silver in the men's 400 mH, running 48.96 behind Qatari winner Bassem Hemeida 's 48.64. Yuki Yamasaki won bronze in the heptathlon with 5696 points, Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Voronina taking gold in 6098 and Swapna Barman silver in 5840. Teammate Karin Odama was 4th in 5487. Another bronze came in the mixed 4x400 m relay, with Japan running 3:15.71 behind India's 3:14.70 and Sri Lanka's 3:15.41. Naoto Hasegawa and Ryoichi Akamatsu both cleared 2.23 m in the men's high jump, Hasegawa finishing 4th overall and Akamatsu 5th. ...

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