Nyiva and Wolde Win Gifu Seiryu Half

Two good races happened Sunday at the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon. The women's race was a head-to-head race between 2022 marathon world champion Gotytom Gebreslase and debuting Japan-based Janet Nyiva. Side-by-side through 15 km, Nyiva shattered Gebreslase with a massive surge over the last 5 km that ultimately put 52 second between them, Nyiva wining in 1:07:37 and Gebreslase next in 1:08:29.

2023 Asian marathon champion Eunice Chebichii Chumba held off the up-and-coming Kana Kobayashi, a member of Japan's marathon team for September's Tokyo World Championships, with a 1:09:07 for 3rd. Kobayashi's 1:09:09 for 4th was a PB by almost 5 minutes and the fastest time ever on the rolling Gifu course by a Japanese woman. Yumi Yoshikawa was 5th in 1:10:51.

Five men went out front on mid-59 pace. Dawit Wolde, debuting Kiprono Sitonik, Vincent Yegon and veteran Bedan Karoki all took turns leading, with only Richard Kimunyan tucking in and declining to share the load. As in the women's race Wolde and Sitonik broke away with a long surge over the last 5 km, and Wolde had the wheels in the final km to take the win in 1:00:06 to Sitonik's 1:00:13. Yegon and Kimunan were both under 62 minutes in 3rd and 4th, with Karoki just holding off 2025 corporate marathon champion Tsubasa Ichiyama for 5th in 1:02:12.

Out fast, Ichiyama settled into a comfortable solo pace after 10 km, only to be caught by Masashi Nonaka at 19 km. Ichiyama responded with a surge to reopen 19 seconds on for 6th and top Japanese in 1:02:21. Both Ichiyama and Yoshikawa will be running next month's Launceston Running Festival half marathon in Tasmania, Australia.

Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon

Gifu, 27 April 2025

complete women's results

complete men's results

Women

1. Janet Nyiva (Kenya/Pansonic) - 1:07:37 - debut

2. Gotytom Gebreslase (Ethiopia) - 1:08:29

3. Eunice Chebichii Chumba (Bahrain) - 1:09:07

4. Kana Kobayashi (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:09:09 - PB

5. Yumi Yoshikawa (Aichi T&F Assoc.) - 1:10:51

6. Mio Kuroda (Kyocera) - 1:11:26

7. Miu Yagi (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:11:40

8. Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) - 1:11:46

9. Yuna Arai (Sekisui Kagaku) - 1:12:47

10. Erina Yasui (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:13:20

11. Mirai Waku (Universal Ent.) - 1:14:08

12. Rinka Hida (Daiichi Seimei) - 1:15:15

13. Natsuki Ogawa (Suzuki) - 1:15:32

14. Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) - 1:16:45

15. Misaki Matsumoto (Chukyo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:17:15

Men

1. Dawit Wolde (Ethiopia) - 1:00:06

2. Kiprono Sitonik (Kenya/Kurosaki Harima) - 1:00:13 - debut

3. Vincent Yegon (Kenya/Honda) - 1:01:17

4. Richard Kimunyan (Kenya/Logisteed) - 1:01:57

5. Bedan Karoki (Kenya/Toyota) - 1:02:12

6. Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) - 1:02:21

7. Masashi Nonaki (Toyota) - 1:02:40

8. Yeneblo Biyazen (Ethiopia/Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:02:44

9. Benard Kimani (Kenya/Comodi Iida) - 1:02:45

10. Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima) - 1:02:45

11. Yuta Shitara (Nishitetsu) - 1:02:53

12. Shun Sadakata (Mazda) - 1:02:56

13. Mizuki Higashi (Aisan Kogyo) - 1:03:07

14. Maru Teferi (Israel) - 1:03:09

15. Taisei Kato (Asahi Kasei) - 1:03:32

Rui Aoki Wins National University Men's Half Marathon - Weekend Results

Yuka Ando 's win at the Nagoya Women's Marathon was the big news of the weekend, but there were other high-level races happening, even in Nagoya. Held in parallel with the marathon, the Nagoya City Half Marathon saw Australians Natalie Rule and Ed Goddard take easy wins by about 2.5 minutes each, Rule in 1:13:57 and Goddard in 1:04:01. The new Biwako Marathon also had a non-Japanese winner, China's Yousheng Guan scoring 1st in 2:14:58 with Japan's Hirohito Sugai next in 2:16:40. Mikiko Ota won the women's race in 2:50:44. The Shizuoka Marathon returned for its first running in five years, with club runner Shumpei Oda leading the top 7 men under 2:20 in 2:15:36. Women's winner Remi Tanaka ran 2:41:23, beating runner-up Ayumi Sano by exactly 7 minutes. And in Tokyo, Rui Aoki continued what has been a great season so far for Koku Gakuin University with a win at the National University Men's Half Marathon . Aoki and Hiro Konda of Chuo Gakuin Unive...

GMO Wins First National Title at Era-Changing 2026 New Year Ekiden

Things have really been coming up fast the last year or so in Japanese distance running, but even so this year's New Year Ekiden really felt like the era has changed. GMO took the lead on the second of the race's 7 legs and went on to take over 2 minutes off the overall course record for the 100.0 km course, winning its first national title in 4:44:00. En route 6 of the 7 legs had new CR, a lot of them with multiple people breaking them, and the only leg that didn't, the 12.3 km First Stage, saw Shunpei Tomita of Logisteed run 34:23, only 7 seconds off the CR held by sub-27 Kenyan Martin Mathathi . The level at the collegiate Hakone Ekiden keeps going up up up , and that showed here as 3 of the new stage CR were set by guys in their first season in the corporate leagues who were some of the biggest stars at Hakone last year. Aoyama Gakuin University grad Aoi Ota sneaked in 1 second ahead of Toyota 's Jin Yuasa to set a 46:00 CR on the 15.9 km Fifth Stage. Collegi...

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

japan running news

Search This Blog