Skip to main content

Lorot and Suzuki Win Sendai, Kiyama and Kipyegon in Sagamihara


Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) was back from the dead yet again to win today's Sendai International Half Marathon women's race. Starting out with company from Selly Kaptich (Kyudenko) and Yuri Mitsune (Hitachi), Suzuki was always a step ahead. Putting away Mitsune early in the 2nd half, it took until the last km for her to break Kaptich, winning in 1:11:00 with Kaptich 8 seconds back in 2nd. Mitsune faded over a minute, just hanging on to 3rd in 1:12:02 over Mayuka Fujita (Route Inn Hotels).

Ibuki Kaneko (Komazawa Univ.) frontran the early going in the men's race, 7 seconds up on the main group at 5 km in 14:51 but out of the top 20 by 10 km. Andrew Lorot (YKK) took clear control in the 2nd half, 12 seconds ahead by 15 km and pulling away all the way home to the win in 1:01:41. After facing criticism for making the Tokyo World Championships marathon team off the JAAF's JMC series rankings in spite of not having broken 2:10 in his last two marathons, Naoki Koyama (Honda) demonstrated fitness with a 1:01:58 for 2nd, putting over 10 seconds on Benuel Mogeni Magoma (Yasukawa Denki) over the last km.


In Kanagawa the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships held its half marathon, split into two different men's races. The D2 men went out first, but a marshaling error meant they only ran 3 laps of the track at the start instead of the correct 4, meaning the race ended up being only 20.7 km. After breaking 61 at Marugame in February Yudai Kiyama (Komazawa Univ.) won in 1:01:43, equivalent to about a 1:02:55 for the full half marathon distance. Teammates Yuma Nozawa and Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.) went 2-3 in 1:01:49 and 1:01:51, with Kiyama's teammate Takuma Yamakawa running down Goki Takayama (Koku Gakuin Univ.) on the track for 4th by 1 second in 1:01:56.

Brian Kipyegon (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) won the D1 men's race for the 3rd year in a row, setting a new MR of 1:01:15 over the correct distance in the process. That put him over a kilometer ahead of 2nd-placer Shinsaku Kudo (Waseda Univ.), another sub-61 half marathoner from Marugame but who ran only 1:04:16 here. Kido Morimoto (Juntendo Univ.) was 3rd in 1:04:47.

Sendai International Half Marathon

Sendai, Miyagi, 11 May 2025

Women
1. Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) - 1:11:00
2. Selly Kaptich (Kenya/Kyudenko) - 1:11:08
3. Yuri Mitsune (Hitachi) - 1:12:02
4. Mayuka Fujita (Route Inn Hotels) - 1:12:15
5. Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) - 1:13:27
6. Madoka Nakano (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:14:13
7. Io Akashi (18 Ginko) - 1:14:29
8. Kurumi Yoda (Panasonic) - 1:14:42
9. Kaena Takeyama (Senko) - 1:15:06
10. Koto Hiramura (Daiso) - 1:16:59

Men
1. Andrew Lorot (Kenya/YKK) - 1:01:41
2. Naoki Koyama (Honda) - 1:01:58
3. Benuel Mogeni Magoma (Kenya/Yasukawa Denki) - 1:02:09
4. Shin Kimura (Honda) - 1:02:12
5. Sunao Kitamura (Chudenko) - 1:02:23
6. Benard Kimeli (Kenya/Fujitsu) - 1:02:32
7. Yuki Muta (Logisteed) - 1:02:39
8. Yugo Kashiwa (Konica Minolta) - 1:02:46
9. Shunsuke Shikama (Logisteed) - 1:02:49
10. Bonifiace Mulwa (Kenya/ND Software) - 1:02:54
11. Masato Arao (ND Software) - 1:02:55
12. Yuta Shitara (Nishitetsu) - 1:03:03
13. Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) - 1:03:07
14. Akito Terui (Subaru) - 1:03:10
15. Takumi Komatsu (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 1:03:19

104th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships

Sagamihara Gion Stadium, Kanagawa, 11 May 2025

D1 Men's Half Marathon
1. Brian Kipyegon (3rd yr., Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:14 - MR
2. Shinsaku Kudo (3rd yr., Waseda Univ.) - 1:04:16
3. Kido Morimoto (4th yr., Juntendo Univ.) - 1:04:47
4. Ruki Kubota (3rd yr., Toyo Univ.) - 1:04:53
5. Shun Miyake (2nd yr., Josai Univ.) - 1:04:55
6. Haruka Yamamoto (2nd yr., Juntendo Univ.) - 1:04:59
7. Shinnosuke Nagami (2nd yr., Nittai Univ.) - 1:05:05
8. Saneyuki Iwata (4th yr., Josai Univ.) -- 1:05:13
9. Kotaro Tahara (2nd yr., Chuo Univ.) - 1:05:22
10. Keiho Kushima (4th yr., Kokushikan Univ.) - 1:05:33

D2 Men's Half Marathon (20.7 km)
1. Yudai Kiyama (4th yr., Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:43
2. Yuma Nozawa (4th yr., Soka Univ.) - 1:01:49
3. Shoki Yamaguchi (2nd yr., Soka Univ.) - 1:01:51
4. Takuma Yamakawa (4th yr., Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:56
5. Goki Takayama (4th yr., Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:57
6. Shota Shiode (4th yr., Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:05
7. Yuta Asakawa (3rd yr., Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:13
8. Sota Taniguchi (3rd yr., Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:46
9. Yuki Someya (4th yr., Nihon Yakka Univ.) - 1:02:57
10. Jinya Ozaki (4th yr., Teikyo Univ.) - 1:03:03

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Komazawa University One Step Away From Perfect Season With Hakone Ekiden Day One Win

Already the course record-breaker at the Izumo Ekiden and National University Ekiden this season, 2021 Hakone Ekiden champion Komazawa University came one step away from its first-ever triple crown of single-season ekiden wins as it won a highly competitive 2023 Hakone Ekiden Day One over defending champ Aoyama Gakuin University and last year's 6th placer Chuo University . Things got off to an unexpected start when Select Team runner Hayate Nitta of non-qualifier Ikuei University decided to take his one and only Hakone shot and run it up to his ability on the 21.3 km 1st leg even though the rest of the field opted to jog. At one point Nitta had a lead of almost a minute and a half, but as beautiful as it would have been for him to pull it off, Meiji University 's Shunpei Tomita and Komazawa's Kensuke Tsubura still managed to run him down in the final kilometer. Tomita took the stage win in 1:02:44, 1:02:08 half marathon pace vs. his 1:02:10 PB despite the slow s...
4 comments
Read more

Heisei Mountaineering Stops Takigahara SDF Base From Scoring 10-Year Streak at Mount Fuji Ekiden

by Koichi Iwasa of DogsorCaravan On Aug. 2 the 51st Mount Fuji Ekiden took place, starting and finishing in Gotemba, Shizuoka and covering 11 stages up to the peak of Mount Fuji and back down. Teams of 6 runners tackle the tough course, each running handling one uphill and one downhill leg with the 6th runner reaching the peak before turning around to head back to the exchange zone where they started. The Heisei Mountaineering Club team took the overall win in 3:50:39, beating 9-time winner Takigahara SDF Base by 2:07 and stopping them from achieving a 10-year victory streak. The independent team division and SDF team division were separated in 2005, and this was the first time that the winning independent team outran the fastest SDF team to take the overall title. The roster that Heisei Mountaineering put together for this year's race raised eyebrows among everyone familiar with the Japanese trail running scene. Handling the 5th and 7th legs was Ruy Ueda , winner of the Fuji M...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fujisan GX Breaks CR to Win 79th Towada Hachimantai Ekiden

The 79th edition of the Towada Hachimantai Ekiden took place Aug. 1 in Akita. Covering a 5-leg 71.4 km course, the race hosted 14 teams. Yamanashi's Fujisan GX took the overall win in a 3:42:17 course record. The best-placing team from within the prefecture, the Akita T&F Association team made the podium at 6th overall. The women's race was canceled again this year due to lack of participation. 79th Towada Hachimantai Ekiden Akita, 1 Aug. 2026 5 stages, 71.4 km, 14 teams complete results Top Team Results 1. Fujisan GX - 3:42:17 - CR 2. Corporate Select Team - 3:46:24 3. Tokyo Police A - 3:48:00 4. Comodi Iida - 3:48:41 5. Tokyo Police B - 3:50:14 6. Akita T&F Assoc. - 3:57:58 7. Fukushima T&F Assoc. - 4:08:20 Top Individual Stage Results First Stage  (13.0 km) 1. Ryota Seki (Tokyo Police A) - 39:47 2. Takuma Nakayama (Fujisan GX) - 40:01 3. Ryota Sato (Tokyo Police B) - 40:02 Second Stage  (13.0 km) 1. Yuki Seto (Fujisan GX) - 37:03 2. Shunsuke Watanabe (Comodi ...
Post a Comment
Read more