Yuya Yoshida winning Fukuoka in CR time was a great story, and here's another one. Kana Kobayashi didn't run track or ekidens in junior high, high school, or at Waseda University and just ran for fun, but after a 2:36:54 debut at last year's Osaka International Women's Marathon and a 2:29:44 PB there this year she got an offer from the Otsuka Seiyaku corporate team. After a good championship ekiden season she ran today's Hofu Yomiuri Marathon, and with a 5-minute PB she won in a CR 2:24:59.
It was an impressively even effort, 1:12:13 through halfway and breaking competition that included 2:22:29 runner Mao Uesugi and 2:23:05 runner Natsumi Matsushita. Her final margin of victory over Matsushita was almost 3 1/2 minutes, with Uesugi another 4 1/2 minutes further back. It's not quite the top level of the sport in Japan, but it for sure puts Kobayashi near the top of the list of rising talent.
The men's race went through halfway on CR pace, with last year's 3rd-placer Ryoma Takeuchi, Riki Nakanishi, Shoma Yamamoto and the debuting Shinta Miyazawa, coached by Olympian Arata Fujiwara, all together. Takeuchi was the first to drop, and just past 33 km Nakanishi pulled away to cruise on to win in 2:09:07. Yamamoto was 2nd in 2:09:59, with Miyazawa clocking 2:11:55 in his first time out and Takeuchi 4th in 2:12:34. Last year's winner Yuki Kawauchi was never a factor, 38th overall in 2:33:01, two minutes shy of his season best from April's Paris Marathon.
55th Hofu Yomiuri Marathon
Hofu, Yamaguchi, 1 Dec. 2024
Women
1. Kana Kobayashi (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:24:59 - CR, PB
2. Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) - 2:28:16
3. Mao Uesugi (Tokyo Metro) - 2:32:48
4. Ayano Ikeuchi (Denso) - 2:37:52
5. Meari Obuchi (United) - 2:40:16
6. Ayumi Morita (Tokyo Metro) - 2:42:01
7. Mio Koyanagi (Osaka Nagai AC) - 2:48:40
8. Noriko Uchida (Oita T&F Assoc.) - 2:49:31
9. Sayaka Yasukawa (Awake) - 2:51:30
10. Miyuki Usui (unattached) - 2:52:18
Men
1. Riki Nakanishi (Toenec) - 2:09:07
2. Shoma Yamamoto (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:09:59
3. Shinta Miyazawa (Suzuki) - 2:11:55 - debut
4. Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) - 2:12:34
5. Tomoki Yasuda (Suzuki) - 2:14:07
6. Takeshi Nishida (Toyota) - 2:14:52
7. Hiromasa Kumahashi (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 2:14:55
8. Takuma Takemura (SG Holdings) - 2:15:23
9. Kota Sugiho (Suzuki) - 2:16:35
10. Maki Yamada (Asahi Kasei) - 2:16:41 - debut
11. Reo Kuniyuki (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:18:39
12. Daisuke Momozawa (Lycaons) - 2:18:44
13. Nao Kazami (Aisan Kogyo) - 2:18:56
14. Shota Saito (JFE Steel) - 2:19:22
15. Junpei Kato (Kumamoto T&F Assoc.) - 2:19:31 - PB
16. Yuki Nakamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:19:38
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38. Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS) - 2:33:01
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DNF - Joel Mwaura (Kenya/Kurosaki Harima)
© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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