Akidor Breaks Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon CR

Margaret Akidor made it three in a row at the Sanyo Ladies Road Race half marathon, breaking the course record with a PB 1:07:45 for the win. Akidor was part of a lead quartet with Shiori Yoshizono, Nanaka Izawa and the debuting Tabitha Njeri Kamau that went through 5 km together in 15:55. Yoshizono and Izawa dropped back over the next 5 km, falling 12 seconds behind as Akidor and Kamau hit 10 km in 31:55. From there Akidor started to inch away from Kamau, rolling on alone the rest of the way to the win.

Yoshizono and Izawa caught the fading Kamau just before 20 km and went right by, Yoshizono taking 2nd in 1:08:21 and Izawa 3rd in 1:08:25. Kamau was another 10 seconds back in 4th, almost 2 minutes up on 5th-placer Yuri Mitsune. Yoshizono and Izawa both broke into the Japanese all-time lists, Yoshizono coming in a 9th and Izawa at 10th.

3rd in the 10 km race last year, Kaede Kawamura got the win this time in 32:16, holding off Deborah Chemutai by 2 seconds in Chemutai's debut at the distance. Ayu Henmi took 3rd in 33:18.

43rd Sanyo Ladies Road Race

Okayama, 15 Dec. 2024

complete results

Half Marathon

1. Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) - 1:07:45 - CR, PB

2. Shiori Yoshizono (Tenmaya) - 1:08:21 - PB

3. Nanaka Izawa (Starts) - 1:08:25 - PB

4. Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:08:35 - debut

5. Yuri Mitsune (18 Ginko) - 1:10:33 - PB

6. Yuki Toyoda (Ehime Ginko) - 1:11:38

7. Madoka Nakano (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:11:51

8. Chiharu Suzuki (Hitachi) - 1:12:11

9. Nana Matsumoto (Daiichi Seimei) - 1:12:29

10. Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) - 1:12:36

11. Mizuki Kakiuchi (Daiso) - 1:12:38

12. Ayaka Kato (Uniqlo) - 1:13:09

13. Hikaru Kitagawa (Univ. Ent.) - 1:13:22

14. Miku Fukuda (Ehime Ginko) - 1:13:25

15. Aika Murakami (Tokyo Metro) - 1:13:34

16. Io Akashi (18 Ginko) - 1:13:40

17. Yuka Masubuchi (Daiichi Seimei) - 1:13:57

18. Mizuki Nishimura (Tenmaya) - 1:14:21

19. Miyu Ogino (Yamada Holdings) - 1:14:49

20. Ayano Ikemitsu (Kagoshima Ginko) - 1:14:59

10 km

1. Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) - 32:16

2. Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) - 32:18 - debut

3. Ayu Henmi (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 33:18

4. Rino Maeda (Iwatani Sangyo) - 33:19

5. Mitsu Ozaki (Sysmex) - 33:20

6. Sakiho Tsutsui (Univ. Ent.) - 33:22

7. Soyoka Segawa (Sysmex) - 33:24

8. Miu Yagi (Iwatani Sangyo) - 33:24

9. Akira Matsui (Ehime Ginko) - 33:25

10. Ayari Harada (Daiichi Seimei) - 33:28

11. Kokone Sakai (Sysmex) - 33:28

12. Azusa Sumi (Univ. Ent.) - 33:28

13. Mayuka Fujita (Route Inn Hotels) - 33:28

14. Honoka Higuchi (Daiichi Seimei) - 33:28

15. Ayaka Murao (Daihatsu) - 33:29

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

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