A longtime member of the Kyudenko corporate team, rebranded as Kraftia after his departure, 10 mile world best holder Benard Kibet Koech has been banned 4 years for biological passport irregularities. All his results dating back to 26 June, 2024 have been disqualified, a period including his runs at the 3 Nov., 2024 Kyushu Corporate Ekiden and the 1 Jan., 2025 New Year Ekiden. As a result, Kyudenko's results in those races will almost certainly be disqualified in the same way that the Aisan Kogyo team lost 4 years of New Year Ekiden results after Rodgers Kwemoi was suspended. Soka University also lost its best-ever 2nd-place finish at the 2023 Izumo Ekiden after team member Leakey Kamina tested positive for nandrolone in-competition at the 2023 National University Track and Field Championships, and the Universal Entertainment women's corporate team lost its 2017 national title after Moeno Nakamura tested positive in-competition at that race.
Stellar conditions and a solid fields meant times were going to be fast at the Ageo City Half Marathon , and in both the women's and men's races the front end took full advantage of the day. In the midst of the super-deep men's field Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh , the top Mongolian in this summer's Budapest World Championships marathon and in last month's Hangzhou Asian Games marathon, ran steady and strong, splitting 33:29 at 10 km, 1:10:38 pace, before pushing the 2nd half. Khishigsaikhan crossed the finish line 1:10:32, 1:22 under the old course record, 3:35 ahead of 2nd-place Kana Kobayashi , and a massive 4:16 off the Mongolian women's national record. Khishigsaikhan is currently training in Japan and ran Ageo in prep for next month's Taipei City Marathon, where she was 3rd last year. The men's race went out hard, with Kenyan Brian Kipyegon (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.), NR holder Yusuke Ogura (Yakult) and the ambitious Rei Matsunaga (Hosei) leading the ...
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