Ichiyama Runs 8th-Fastest JPN Time Ever to Win National Corporate Half

Following up last weekend's NR-breaking Marugame Half where the top 24 men went under 61 minutes, today's National Corporate Half Marathon delivered another big one. Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) and Shadrack Kipchirchir (Chudenko) broke away from the pack mid-race and opened a substantial lead, but in the last few km Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) closed the gap and passed them by. Ichiyama took almost a minute off his PB to win in 1:00:22, the 8th-fastest time ever by a Japanese man.

Favorite Tatsuhiko Ito (Honda) closed hard to pass Nishizawa and Kipchirchir on the track but couldn't catch Ichiyama, 5 seconds behind in 2nd in 1:00:27 with Nishizawa right behind in 1:00:29 for 3rd. Coming off an injury in November that held him back at last month's New Year Ekiden, Ichiyama told JRN post-race, "This was a big confidence builder for my next race." That would be next month's Tokyo Marathon.

The top 14 men were all under 61 minutes. Compared to that the women's race was relatively conservative, with only 2 women clearing 70 minutes. Shiori Yoshizono (Tenmaya) got the win in 1:09:45, holding off Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) by 5 seconds. Kazuna Kanetomo (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) was 3rd in 1:10:20.

Paris Olympian Yuma Yamamoto (Sekisui Kagaku) had a characteristically good one in the women's 10 km, taking the win by 30 seconds in 32:33. For the first time the National Corporate Championships featured a men's 10 km, which went to Komazawa University grad Taiyo Yasuhara (Kao) in 29:08.

National Corporate Half Marathon and 10 km Championships

Yamaguchi, 9 Feb. 2025

complete results

Men's Half Marathon

1. Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) - 1:00:22 - PB

2. Tatsuhiko Ito (Honda) - 1:00:27

3. Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:29

4. Shadrack Kipchirchir (Chudenko) - 1:00:39

5. Tamaki Fujimoto (Logisteed) - 1:00:40

6. Hideyuki Tanaka (Toyota) - 1:00:43

7. Yoshiki Oshiro (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:00:43

8. Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:00:43

9. Hirotsugu Yoshikawa (Yakult) - 1:00:45

10. Ryuto Urushibata (Yasukawa Denki) - 1:00:47

11. Waweru Nganga (Chugoku Denryoku) - 1:00:48

12. Toru Kubota (Honda) - 1:00:49

13. Yusaku Nomura (Toyota) - 1:00:58

14. Kazuki Moriya (Mitsubishi Juko) - 1:00:59

15. Shunsuke Kikuchi (NTN) - 1:01:01

16. Shunta Uchida (Toyota) - 1:01:05

17. Kento Yamauchi (Kyudenko) - 1:01:06

18. Shota Nishimura (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:08

19. Kosei Matsunami (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:01:12

20. Shoya Kawase (Honda) - 1:01:14

21. Daiki Ozawa (Fujitsu) - 1:01:15

22. Kiyoshi Koga (Yasukawa Denki) - 1:01:15

23. Tatsuya Tsunashima (YKK) - 1:01:16

24. Hironori Muramatsu (Logisteed) - 1:01:16

25. Masanori Sumida (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:18

-----

50. Yuito Yamamoto (Subaru) - 1:02:06

75. Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 1:02:54

100. Shumpei Tomita (Logisteed) - 1:03:29

125. Hiroto Ishiwata (SID Group) - 1:04:39

150. Yudai Takayama (Nittetsu Stainless) - 1:06:29

Women's Half Marathon

1. Shiori Yoshizono (Tenmaya) - 1:09:45

2. Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:09:50

3. Kazuna Kanetomo (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:10:20

4. Yuri Mitsune (18 Ginko) - 1:10:23

5. Manami Nishiyama (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:10:27

6. Akira Ozaki (Sysmex) - 1:10:49

7. Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:11:14

8. Riko Iijima (SID Group) - 1:11:14

9. Wakana Itsuki (Kyudenko) - 1:11:14

10. Shiori Zama (Shimamura) - 1:11:18

Men's 10 km

1. Taiyo Yasuhara (Kao) - 29:08

2. Sosuke Yoshimura (Aisan Kogyo) - 29:15

3. Yuta Mikami (Chugoku Denryoku) - 29:24

4. Yuya Iwasaki (Osaka Gas) - 29:35

5. Nagisa Moriso (Chugoku Denryoku) - 29:43

Women's 10 km

1. Yuma Yamamoto (Sekisui Kagaku) - 32:33

2. Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) - 33:03

3. Ayu Henmi (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 33:06

4. Sara Isobe (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 33:10

5. Akari Matsumoto (Sekisui Kagaku) - 33:10

6. Momoa Yamada (Shimamura) - 33:10

7. Miu Yagi (Iwatani Sangyo) - 33:11

8. Rio Matsutani (Denso) - 33:13

9. Erina Yasui (Iwatani Sangyo) - 33:16

10. Rion Furukawa (Nitori) - 33:30

Chesang Wins Osaka Women's Marathon in 2:19:31, Yada Drops 2:19:57 Debut NR

This year's Osaka International Women's Marathon was a race run with a high level of methodicalness, starting slower than the planned 3:19/km but ramping up until the lead pack was skimming around the 2:20:15-30 projected finish level. After hitting halfway in 1:10:13 with a group of 6, by 25 km only 4 were left up front, sub-2:19 runners Workenesh Edesa , Stella Chesang and Bedatu Hirpa , and the debuting Mikuni Yada , and when the last 2 pacers stepped off at 30 km it was Yada who went to the front. Despite never have raced longer than the 10.6 km Third Stage at November's Queens Ekiden where she had helped the Edion team score its first-ever national title, Yada was very, very impressive, fearlessly surging from 12 km and never letting up, even laughing and smiling to fans along the course. When she started sustaining a pace around 3:15/km the projected finish dropped under 2:20 and all the way down to 2:19:28 by 35 km, and even when all 3 of the more experienced ru...

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