Kenyans Sweep Kumamoto Kosa Road Race

Japan-based Kenyans dominated at the revamped and improved Kumamoto Kosa Road Race across all three of its main distances. Agnes Ngetich from the Canon team got things started in the women's 5 km, blasting a 14:48 that left Japanese NR holder Nozomi Tanaka almost 40 seconds behind. Tanaka, whose 15:25 was technically a NR, was only 10 seconds up on Nanami Watanabe, who continued a good season with a 15:35 for 3rd only 1 second off Tanaka's previous NR iteration.

Kosa's 10 km race has historically been for high school boys, but this year's race had an excellent field of corporate league runners. Triple Hakone Ekiden CR breaker Vincent Yegon, now with the Honda corporate team, won in 28:05 by 1 second over Festus Kiprono. Mangata Kibet was 3rd in 28:13, with Kenyans taking the top 6 spots. Top high schooler Mahiro Kubo from local Omuta H.S. ran a solid 29:58, good enough for the win a lot of years but only 14th against his older competition.

Kosa is the site of the fastest 10-miler ever run, and even though it wasn't especially fast this year it had another close race in its premier distance. Anthony Maina from the Koichi Morishita-coached Toyota Kyushu team outkicked Senshu University's Duncan Maina by 1 second for the win in 46:07, with Cleophas Kandie from Mitsubishi Juko making it a Kenyan top 3. Collegiate runner Riku Kodama was the top-placing Japanese man at 4th in 46:21.

49th Kumamoto Kosa Road Race

1 Dec. 2024

complete results

Men's 10 Miles

1. Anthony Maina (Kenya/Toyota Kyushu) - 46:07

2. Duncan Maina (Kenya/Senshu Univ.) - 46:08

3. Cleophas Kandie (Kenya/Mitsubishi Juko) - 46:12

4. Riku Kodama (Juntendo Univ.) - 46:21

5. Naoki Koyama (Honda) - 46:25

6. Kosei Machida (Chuo Hatsujo) - 46:27

7. Benuel Mogeni Magoma (Kenya/Yasukawa Denki) - 46:30

8. Yuta Shitara (Nishitetsu) - 46:34

9. Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda) - 46:35

10. Keito Makise (Toyota Kyushu) - 46:37

11. Ichitaka Yamashita (Mitsubishi Juko) - 46:40

12. Tatsuya Furukawa (Juntando) - 46:48

13. Naoto Hashimoto (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 46:49

14. Kento Nishi (Osaka Gas) - 46:51

15. Yoshiki Oshiro (Toyota Kyushu) - 46:51

16. Hidekazu Hijikata (Asahi Kasei) - 46:53

17. Kyosuke Hanao (Toyota Kyushu) - 46:54

18. Wataru Tochigi (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 46:57

19. Kazuki Moriya (Mitsubishi Juko) - 46:57

20. Keita Sakamoto (Aichi Seiko) - 46:58

21. Takanori Ogata (Toyota Kyushu) - 46:59

22. Shun Sadakata (Mazda) - 47:03

23. Shota Nishimura (Aichi Seiko) - 47:04

24. Ryoto Yoshioka (Mitsubishi Juko) - 47:07

25. Toshiki Sadakata (Mitsubishi Juko) - 47:07

Men's 10 km

1. Vincent Yegon (Kenya/Honda) - 28:05

2. Festus Kiprono (Kenya) - 28:06

3. Mangata Kibet (Kenya/Mazda) - 28:13

4. Jonathan Ndiku (Kenya/YKK) - 28:25

5. Richard Kimayat (Kenya) - 28:34

6. Joseph Mutwanthei (Kenya) - 28:42

7. Nagiya Mori (Honda) - 28:51

8. Ryoma Aoki (Honda) - 28:53

9. Ken Nakayama (Honda) - 28:59

10. Victor Kipkirui Mutai (Kenya/Honda) - 29:04

Women's 5 km

1. Agnes Ngetich (Kenya/Canon) - 14:48

2. Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance) - 15:25 - NR

3. Nanami Watanabe (Panasonic) - 15:35

4. Diana Cherotich (Higo Ginko) - 15:44

5. Martha Mokaya (Kenya/Canon) - 15:52

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

Etir Breaks Marugame CR, Catrofe Sets Uruguay NR, Omare 3rd-Straight Win

On the one hand it was too windy for really fast times at the Marugame Half , but on the other it wasn't, apparently. It was pretty much a strong tailwind over the first 10 km and just a strong a headwind over the last 10, so it wasn't a surprise that the lead group of men went through 5 km in 13:59 and 10 km in 27:51. Up front in it were 59:30 collegiate record co-holders Richard Etir and Kotaro Shinohara , and sub-59:30 guy Emmanuel Maru . But with the National University Half Marathon having moved to Marugame last year there were a million fast Hakone kids up in it to, Hiromichi Nonaka from Koku Gakuin University leading the way but lots more right behind. Etir and Maru opened up on the field after the turnaround, and by 15 km Etir was alone, 9 seconds ahead of Maru and on sub-59 pace running into the wind. Like everyone else he struggled to keep pace in the wind, sub-59 slipping away but easily taking the win in 59:07, a CR and new collegiate record by 23 seconds. Maru e...

Marugame, Beppu-Oita and More - Weekend Preview

After the Osaka International Women's Marathon and Osaka Half Marathon last weekend Japan's winter road season rolls on with 3 big races Sunday. The Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon has a good field up front in the women's race with 5 runners, Eilish McColgan , Dolphine Omare , Isobel Batt-Doyle , Charlotte Purdue and Yuka Ando , with sub-1:09 bests and the debut of #1 collegiate runner Sarah Wanjiru of Daito Bunka University . 3 men in Marugame have recent sub-60 times, Emmanuel Maru , Richard Etir and Kotaro Shinohara leading the way. Shinohara was one of 2 Japanese men to break 60 at Marugame last year and missed the NR by 3 seconds in 59:30. After a 42:53 CR on his 15.3 km leg at the New Year Ekiden on Jan.1, 45:06 pace for 10 miles, he's looking to pick up at least another 4 seconds this time around. 14 other men in the field are at the 60-minute level, and Chuo University 's sub-28 10000 m runner Yamato Hamaguchi is making a highly anticip...

japan running news

Search This Blog