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Marugame Half Elite Field


It's a big year at the Marugame Half on Feb. 2. On the women's side you've got two of the fastest Japan-based Kenyans and past Marugame winners Dolphine Omare and Pauline Kamulu vs. Dominique Scott, Calli Hauger-Thackery and Isobel Batt-Doyle and home team Rika Kaseda, Kaede Kawamura and Haruka Kokai.

On the men's side you've got sub-60 Kenyans Alexander Mutiso, Cleophas Kandie, Bedan Karoki and Emmanuel Maru with another 15 men sub-61 right behind them. The Japanese crew is led by frequent training partners Tomoki Ota, 1:00:08, and Kotaro Shinohara, 1:00:11. Although they do it in the big ekidens all the time, no Japanese man has ever broken the one hour barrier in an official half marathon. C'mon already, this is the chance. Get it done.

There's a smattering of other internationals mixed in including Canada's Rory Linkletter and Australians Brett Robinson, Andy Buchanan and Tim Vincent, but the other main story on the men's side is the relocation of the National University Half Marathon from March's Tachikawa City Half Marathon to Marugame to accommodate the new Expo Ekiden on Mar. 16. As a result of that there's about a million guys each at the 61, 62, 63 and beyond levels. It'll be one of the deepest half marathons ever, and that's saying a lot in Japan.

Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon

Elite Field Highlights
Marugame, Kagawa, 2 Feb. 2025
times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted

Women
Dolphine Omare (Kenya/Uniqlo) - 1:06:07 (Marugame 2024)
Sara Hall (U.S.A.) - 1:07:15 (Houston 2022) - scratch
Pauline Kamulu (Kenya/Route Inn Hotels) - 1:07:22 (Marugame 2023)
Dominque Scott (South Africa) - 1:07:32 (Houston 2022)
Rika Kaseda (Daihatsu) - 1:08:11 (Marugame 2023)
Calli Hauger-Thackery (Great Britain) - 1:08:20 (Houston 2024)
Isobel Batt-Doyle (Australia) - 1:09:09 (Melbourne 2024)
Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:10:17 (National Corporate Half 2022)

Debut
Haruka Kokai (Daiichi Seimei) - 30:57.67 (National 10000 m Championships 2023)

Men
Alexander Mutiso (Kenya/ND Software) - 58:48 (Ras Al Khaimah 2022)
Cleophas Kandie (Kenya/Mitsubishi Juko) - 59:18 (Marugame 2023)
Bedan Karoki (Kenya/Toyota) - 59:37 (Buenos Aires 2023)
Emmanuel Maru (Kenya/Toyota Boshoku) - 59:43 (Barcelona 2024)
Tomoki Ota (Toyota) - 1:00:08 (Marugame 2023)
Amos Bett (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:00:11 (Marugame 2024)
Kotaro Shinohara (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:00:11 (Marugame 2023)
Dennis Kipruto (Kenya/Nihon Yakka Univ.) - 1:00:17 (Yosenkai Half 2023)
Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:00:31 (Marugame 2023)
David Shunqeya (Kenya/Reitaku Univ.) - 1:00:32 (Marugame 2024)
Josphat Ledama Kisaisa (Kenya/Kao) - 1:00:36 (National Corporate Half 2023)
Kazuya Nishiyama (Toyota) - 1:00:41 (National Corporate Half 2022)
Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:43 (National Corporate Half 2022)
Ayumu Yamamoto (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:00:43 (National Corporate Half 2022)
Ayumu Kobayashi (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 1:00:44 (National Corporate Half 2022)
James Mutuku (Kenya/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:00:46 (Yosenkai Half 2023)
Masashi Nonaka (Toyota) - 1:00:48 (National Corporate Half 2022)
Daiki Hattori (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:49 (National Corporate Half 2024)
Brian Kiptoo (Kenya/Reitaku Univ.) - 1:00:53 (Den Haag 2023)
Rory Linkletter (Canada) - 1:01:02 (Houston 2024)
Suguru Osako (Japan) - 1:01:05 (Great North Run 2022)
Koki Asai (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:01:09 (Marugame 2024)
Aoi Ito (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:16 (Marugame 2024)
Eikichi Kazaoka (JFE Steel) - 1:01:26 (Marugame 2024)
Brett Robinson (Australia) - 1:01:27 (Marugame 2024)
Joseph Muigai (Kenya/Heisei Kokusai Univ.) - 1:01:29 (Marugame 2024)
Takuma Yamakawa (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:36 (Marugame 2023)
Kazura Munakata (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:01:38 (Ageo 2024)
Dejene Tesfalem (Eritrea/Nansatsu Tokyo) - 1:01:38 (Marugame 2024)
Taiga Tosen (Surugadai Univ.) - 1:01:40 (Marugame 2024)
Koki Yoshioka (Kyudenko) - 1:01:40 (Osaka 2023)
Daichi Shibata (Chuo Univ.) - 1:01:41 (Marugame 2024)
Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 1:01:41 (National Corporate Half 2022)
Taisei Nakamura (Yakult) - 1:01:41 (National Corporate Half 2022)
Andy Buchanan (Australia) - 1:01:42 (Melbourne 2024)
Renato Ogata (Toyo Univ.) - 1:01:42 (Marugame 2024)
Tim Vincent (Australia) - 1:01:43 (Rome Ostia 2022)
Kenji Yamamoto (Mazda) - 1:01:44 (Osaka 2024)
Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) - 1:01:45 (Tokyo Legacy Half 2024)
Rei Yonemitsu (Konica Minolta) - 1:01:45 (Marugame 2024)
Yusuke Ogura (Yakult) - 1:01:48 (Ageo 2022)
Rei Matsunaga (JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:01:56 (Ageo 2023)
Shinichiro Nakamura (Kyudenko) - 1:01:57 (Marugame 2024)
Yudai Kiyama (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:59 (Ageo 2024)
Haruki Minatoya (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 1:01:59 (National Corporate Half 2024)

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Stefan said…
What an incredible field on the women's side! I'm really looking forward to this one knowing the entrants both internationally and locally. Regarding the Japanese women, the way Kaede Kawamura ran in the Empress Cup you would think she would be the favourite. She's in top form and looking strong. Though you can never discount Rika Kaseda, having run 1:08.11 in 2023 at this event. I'm hoping Haruka Kokai debuts well at this distance. I'm glad she is challenging it. I recall Ririka Hironaka was going to enter this half marathon last year and I was anticipating her run but she got injured and had to withdraw so I'm crossing my fingers that all the entrants make it to the starting line this year.
January 17, 2025 at 9:16 AM
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