Skip to main content

Selemon Barega and Rebecca Mwangi Win Tokyo Legacy Half, Osako Debuts in Li Ning


Compared to yesterday's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai half marathon conditions were tougher for the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon today, and the effects of the warmer weather showed in the results.

With people like Tokyo Olympics 10000 m gold medalist Selemon Barega, 57:50 for the half marathon, and 59:30 collegiate record co-holder Richard Etir in the race the men went out in a leisurely 14:52 for the downhill first 5 km, with Sydney Marathon 6th placer Masato Arao in the lead and a pack of over 50 in tow. Victor Kipchirchir made a couple of tries to get things moving, shaking the front pack down to 16 by 10 km and 9 by 15 km. Things really broke up on the same hill that featured near the end of the Tokyo World Championships marathons, leaving it down to Barega, Etir, Benard Kimeli and Paul Kuira with 1 km to go.

Barega and Etir were head-to-head heading onto the track, and even though Etir tried to pull off a replay of the Tokyo Worlds men's marathon finish Barega hung on for the win with both of them clocking 1:01:22. Kimeli was 3rd in 1:01:34, with 5000 m NR holder Suguru Osako taking the top Japanese spot in 1:01:45 in his road debut in Li Ning shoes. After dropping back when things took off, early leader Arao rallied to pass Hakone Ekiden First Stage CR holder Yamato Yoshii on the hill, taking 8th in 1:02:12 as the only man in the top 10 to run a PB.

The women's race went out more conservatively than planned too. In her half marathon debut former Japan resident Rebecca Mwangi hoped to hit a sub-67 time, but along with #1-ranked Janet Nyiva, 1:07:37 in Gifu this past spring, and debuting Ethiopian Meskerem Mamo they only went out on low-1:09 pace. Mwangi and Nyiva pushed it ever so slightly after that, their projected finish dropping to 1:08:55 by 10 km, and from there Mwangi kept incrementing it up.

In the end Mwangi won it in 1:08:46, Nyiva falling 23 seconds back for 2nd in 1:09:09. Mamo faded hard over the 2nd half but still didn't have any serious threats from the Japanese competition, taking 3rd in 1:10:58 with top Japanese finisher Kaede Kawamura far back in 4th in 1:11:42. Just behind her, former top-tier track runner Kaede Hagitani had an OK debut after deciding to come out of retirement, taking 5th in 1:11:59. 7th-place Ayaka Shimoyamada was the only woman in the top 10 to run a PB, clocking 1:13:33.

Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon

Tokyo, 19 Oct. 2025

Men
1. Selemon Barega (Ethiopia) - 1:01:22
2. Richard Etir (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:01:22
3. Benard Kimeli (Kenya/Fujitsu) - 1:01:34
4. Paul Kuira (Kenya/JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:01:40
5. Benard Langat (Kenya/Honda) - 1:01:42
6. Suguru Osako (Li Ning) - 1:01:45
7. Victor Kipchirchir (Kenya) - 1:02:01
8. Masato Arao (ND Software) - 1:02:12 - PB
9. Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) - 1:02:26
10. Vincent Raimoi (Kenya/Suzuki) - 1:02:35
11. Go Kiriyama (Suzuki) - 1:02:37
12. Ichitaka Yamashita (Mitsubishi Juko) - 1:02:50
13. Bedan Karoki (Kenya/Toyota) - 1:02:54
14. Ethan Shuley (U.S.A.) - 1:03:06 - PB
15. Yujiro Koshiba (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:03:08 - PB

Women
1. Rebecca Mwangi (Kenya) - 1:08:46 - debut
2. Janet Nyiva (Kenya/Panasonic) - 1:09:09
3. Meskerem Mamo (Ethiopia) - 1:10:58 - debut
4. Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:11:42
5. Kaede Hagitani (Saku T&F Assoc.) - 1:11:59 - debut
6. Madoka Nakano (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:13:27
7. Ayaka Shimoyamada (Sysmex) - 1:13:33 - PB
8. Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) - 1:14:29
9. Natsuki Ogawa (Suzuki) - 1:14:51
10. Yuna Arai (Sekisui Kagaku) - 1:16:14

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
I was very excited to see Kaede Hagitani have a strong debut in the half marathon given that it was her first competitive race in a long time. She looked strong finishing and even though the time is not impressive, given the conditions it's a very solid start to her Los Angeles Olympics marathon campaign. Of course, there is a big difference between a half and full marathon so there is a lot of work to do. Nicely done by Kaede Kawamura to be the top Japanese finisher.
October 19, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...
1 comment
Read more

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...
Post a Comment
Read more