Michishita and Suzuki Take Paris Bronze, Muenster and Great North Run

Michishita and Suzuki Take Paris Bronze, Muenster and Great North Run - Weekend Results

The Paris Paralympics wrapped up with another trio of bronze medals by Japanese athletes. In Friday's T52 men's 100 m final, Tomoki Sato held off Canada's Anthony Bouchard and Mexico's Salvador Hernandez Mondragon by 0.11 for bronze in 17.44 (+1.6). Tomoya Ito and Tatsuya Ito were 7th and 8th in 17.67 and 17.91, with Belgian Maxime Carabin winning gold in 16.70.

In Sunday's marathons, Tomoki Suzuki lost out to China's Hua Jin in the race for T54 men's silver, Jin getting there first in 1:31:19 and Suzuki 4 seconds back in 1:31:23 for bronze. But both were far behind gold medalist Marcel Hug of Switzerland, who had a dominant run in 1:27:39 for the win. Ryota Yoshida clocked 1:37:15 for 8th. Wakako Tsuchida and Tsubasa Kina were off their best in the T54 women's race, Tsuchida 6th in 1:52:39 and Kina 12th in 2:04:53.

In the T12 women's marathon, Paralympic and world record holder Misato Michishita lost both records to Moroccans Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi and Meryem En-Nourhi. Both broke Michishita's 3:00:50 Paralympic record, with El Idrissi scoring an impressive gold in 2:48:36 to cut almost 6 minutes off Michishita's WR. Initially finishing 4th in 3:04:23, Michishita was elevated to bronze after Spain's Elena Congost was disqualified. Congost finished 3rd in 3:00:48, 2 seconds under Michishita's Paralympic record, but just steps before the finish line violated the rules by letting go of her guide runner's rope. Tadashi Horikoshi was the top Japanese man in the T12 race at 7th in 2:28:03, with Shinya Wada 9th in a PB 2:29:59 and Yutaka Kumagai 10th in 2:32:26.

At Sunday's Volksbank Muenster Marathon in Germany, 2:08:55 man Akira Tomiyasu was one of only two sub-2:10 runners in the field and the favorite to win. But although he ran comfortable through the first 15 km, near halfway Tomiyasu lost touch with the lead group and ultimately finished 5th in 2:22:55. "The turns and cobblestones in the first 10 km took more out of me than I thought they would," he told JRN post-race. Kenyans won both the men's and women's races, Collins Kemboi Kipsang taking the men's title in 2:10:52 and Rebecah Jeruto Cherop the women's in 2:32:25.

A large group of corporate leaguers was at the Great North Run in the U.K. but didn't make much of a dent on either race. 2:05 marathoner Kenya Sonota was the top Japanese man at 7th in 1:03:00, just over 3 minutes behind winner Abel Kipchumba's 59:52. 2:07 marathoner Shin Kimura was 22nd in 1:06:07, in sight of women's top 3 Mary Ngugi-Cooper, 1:07:40, Senbere Teferi, 1:07:41, and Alemu Megertu, 1:07:42. Mizuki Nishimura was the first Japanese woman across the line in 1:11:57, with Yuna Takahashi 10th in 1:12:13, Yuri Tasaki 12th in 1:13:20, and Mio Kuroda 15th in 1:14:50.

Waseda Leads Top 7 Teams Under Izumo Ekiden CR, Ivy League Best-Ever 3rd (updated)

3rd last year, Waseda University scored its first Izumo Ekiden win since 2010, taking almost 2 minutes off the CR and leading the top 7 teams under the old record of 2:07:51 for the complete 6-stage, 45.1 km course. Waseda was 16 seconds back in 7th after the First Stage, but its 2nd runner Ojiro Honda made that up easily and put them 6 seconds out front. A massive 22:56 CR for the 8.5 km Third Stage by Shadrack Kipkemei (Nihon Univ.) dropped Waseda back to 2nd even though its runner Ryuki Suzuki broke the old CR too, but back-to-back CR on the next 2 stages by 1st-year Haruki Niizuma and Shunpei Yamaguchi put anchor Shinsaku Kudo out of reach of the rest of the field. Kudo duly won the 10.2 km anchor stage in 29:00, bypassing a 2:06 time entirely for a new 2:05:56 CR, just under 2:48/km average pace for the complete course. Defending champ Koku Gakuin University struggled a bit in the first half of the race but came on strong in the longer second half with 4th and 5th runners...

Kipyegon Repeats, Toyo Wins Hakone Ekiden Qualifier in First Appearance in 21 Years

Back for the first time in 21 years after a disastrous 14th-place finish at the 102nd Hakone Ekiden this past January, Toyo University hit one out of western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park with a solid win at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai, the half marathon that serves as the official qualifying race for the 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The top 10 teams in the Hakone auto-qualify for the following year, with the rest having to run the Yosenkai in October with a squad of 10 to 16 runners out of which the top 10 score on aggregate time, with the 10 fastest schools joining the Hakone field and top individuals from non-qualifying teams names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team to make up the complete Hakone field of 21. Driven in large part by an aggressive run from 3rd-year Yu Miyazaki , one of only 2 Japanese athletes to go with the big African contingent up front, Toyo won in 10:31:30, 1:03:09 or 2:59.6/km per athlete. As the first team to have broken the 3:00/km average pace barrie...

Ngetich and Mutiso Take Down Tokyo Legacy Half CR

In its 5th edition the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon scored 2 new course records via Kenyans from the Ikaika agency, with 10 km WR holder Agnes Ngetich blasting 3 minutes off the old record to win by over 4 in 1:04:23, and Alexander Mutiso skimming just 1 second under the CR for the win by 5 seconds in 59:51. The 2 races played out completely differently, even if the paydays were the same for the winners. Surrounded by an envelope of male runners all the way to the final 100 m, Ngetich was out hard on the downhill in the first 5 km, hitting it on sub-64 pace in 15:08 before leveling out on the flat middle 10 km. Her next 2 splits projected to 1:04:09 and 1:04:17, and even with the uphill back to the stadium in the last 5 km she didn't fall far off from that, winning in 1:04:23. Runner-up Tabitha Njeri Kamau was nearly a mile back in 1:08:28, with Kamau's Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo teammate Kazuna Kanetomo dropping a 1:10:17 PB for 3rd. Now an independent, track Olympian Kaede Ha...

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