Skip to main content

Rotich and Chelal Win Kobe Marathon, American Shuley 2nd in 2:11:30


Kenyans Elisha Rotich and Jackline Chelal made it a Kenyan double at the Kobe Marathon, Rotich outrunning American Ethan Shuley by 28 seconds for the win in 2:11:02 and Chelal with an almost 2-minute lead in 2:28:25.

The men's race started off with a lead group of 11, going through 10 km in 30:10 and halfway in 1:03:38. Wearing a mass-participation bib and starting 6 seconds back from the elites, Shuley, whose previous best was a 2:18:13 in Nagano this past April and who has only 2 other races on his World Athletics profile in the last 10 years, both indoor 3000 m, improbably led through 25 km in 1:15:19, 2:07:07 pace, before losing touch. Ethiopian Abay Alemu surged into the lead, only to get run down by Rotich just after 30 km and ultimately dropping out.

Rotich slowed after moving into the top spot but held his margin over Shuley to win 2:11:02 to 2:11:30. Hiromasa Kumahashi (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) was 3rd in 2:11:45, closing on Shuley fast but running out of ground before getting to him.

The heavy favorite Chelal and the debuting Deborah Samum were together through 15 km in 51:16 before Chelal dropped Samum, steadily opening her lead the rest of the way to win in 2:28:25. Samum was 2nd in 2:30:16, with Kokone Sakai (Sysmex) debuting in 2:35:22 for 3rd.

Kobe Marathon

Kobe, Hyogo, 16 Nov. 2025

Men
1. Elisha Rotich (Kenya) - 2:11:02
2. Ethan Shuley (U.S.A.) - 2:11:30 - PB
3. Hiromasa Kumahashi (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 2:11:45
4. Takuya Kumashiro (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 2:13:17 - PB
5. Taisei Kato (Asahi Kasei) - 2:15:37
6. Keisuke Yokota (Team Nitro) - 2:15:46
7. Daichi Atsuura (ND Software) - 2:15:52
8. Masami Nagakura (Kurosaki Harima) - 2:15:59 - PB
9. Tomohiro Kaijo (Kanazawa City Hall) - 2:16:24
10. Takeru Ikka (Jupiter RC) - 2:17:46 - PB
-----
DNF - Abay Alemu (Ethiopia)
DNF - Josphat Kiprotich (Kenya)
DNF - Martin Musau (Uganda)

Women
1. Jackline Chelal (Kenya) - 2:28:25
2. Deborah Samum (Kenya) - 2:30:16 - debut
3. Kokone Sakai (Sysmex) - 2:35:22 - debut
4. Natsuki Ogawa (Suzuki) - 2:36:24 - PB
5. Kotomi Tsubokura (Wacoal) - 2:39:00
6. Haruna Takano (PTC) - 2:39:54
7. Catherine Wanjiru Njunge (Kenya) - 2:40:30 - PB
8. Riine Ringi (Estonia) - 2:41:24
9. Ayaka Furukawa (Saysky) - 2:44:16 - PB
10. Runa Toya (Josai Kokusai Univ.) - 2:47:11 - debut

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

 
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
What a run by Ethan Shuley! It would be super awesome if you could get an interview with him. It seems training and living in Japan is treating him very well. Is he with a group/team?
November 18, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Monday Sees Shocking Wins on the Track and the Field'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-monday-sees-shocking-wins-track-and-field Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .
Post a Comment
Read more

Summary of Japanese Medalists at Asian Athletics Championships

Overall:    gold: 4   silver: 6   bronze: 10 Men:    gold: 1   silver: 3   bronze: 4 Women:    gold: 3   silver: 3   bronze: 6 20th Asian Athletics Championships Pune, India, July 3-7, 2013 click here for complete results Men's 200 m Final   +0.7 m/s 1. Xie Zhenye (China) - 20.87 2. Fahad Mohammed Alsubaie (Saudi Arabia) - 20.912 3. Kei Takase (Japan) - 20.918 Men's 400 m Final 1. Yousef Ahmed Masrahi (Saudi Arabia) - 45.08 2. Ali Khamis (Bahrain) - 45.65 3. Yuzo Kanemaru (Japan) - 45.95 Men's 110 m Hurdles Final   +0.1 m/s 1. Jiang Fan (China) - 13.61 2. Abdulaziz Almandeel (Kuwait) - 13.78 3. Wataru Yazawa (Japan) - 13.88 Men's 400 m Hurdles Final 1. Yasuhiro Fueki (Japan) - 49.86 2. Cheng Wen (China) - 50.07 3. Satinder Singh (India) - 50.35 Men's 3000 m SC 1. Tarek Mubarak Taher (Bahrain) - 8:34.77 2. Dejene Regassa Mootoma (Bahrain) - 8:37.40 3. Tsuyoshi Takeda (Japan) - 8...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fast High School 5000 m Times at Nittai and Kyoto

After the great men's 10000 m and women's 5000 m results on day 1 of the last full Nittai University Time Trials meet of 2025, day 2 brought a lot of great 5000 m times from high schoolers, both at Nittai and at another meet in Kyoto. At Nittai, Bilith Boi (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) downed 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) in the last of the 35 heats of 5000 m, running 13:27.52 to Miura's 13:28.61. Ryo Goda (Yasukawa Denki) also got under 13:30, running 13:29.41 for 3rd, with 40-year-old Yuichiro Ueno (Hiramatsu Byoin) rocking on with a 13:32.12 for 4th. James Karuri (Aomori Yamada H.S.) was 8th in 13:35.46, with 17-year-old Naoya Doma (Sera H.S.) running an excellent 13:39.13 for 10th. Samuel Gayu and Yua Hayashi also got under 14 minutes in the same heat to make it 3 sub-14 for Sapporo Yamanote H.S. In Heat 34, Chien Tzu-Chieh (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) ran a Taiwanese NR 13:48.99 for 4th, with Yui Kudo and Yugo Yamamoto running sub-14 to bring the Aomori Yamada...
Post a Comment
Read more