Skip to main content

Etir Breaks Marugame CR, Catrofe Sets Uruguay NR, Omare 3rd-Straight Win




On the one hand it was too windy for really fast times at the Marugame Half, but on the other it wasn't, apparently.

It was pretty much a strong tailwind over the first 10 km and just a strong a headwind over the last 10, so it wasn't a surprise that the lead group of men went through 5 km in 13:59 and 10 km in 27:51. Up front in it were 59:30 collegiate record co-holders Richard Etir and Kotaro Shinohara, and sub-59:30 guy Emmanuel Maru. But with the National University Half Marathon having moved to Marugame last year there were a million fast Hakone kids up in it to, Hiromichi Nonaka from Koku Gakuin University leading the way but lots more right behind.

Etir and Maru opened up on the field after the turnaround, and by 15 km Etir was alone, 9 seconds ahead of Maru and on sub-59 pace running into the wind. Like everyone else he struggled to keep pace in the wind, sub-59 slipping away but easily taking the win in 59:07, a CR and new collegiate record by 23 seconds. Maru ended up almost a minute back in 2nd in 1:00:06. Uruguay's Santiago Catrofe won a sprint finish against Tomoya Ogikubo to set a new NR of 1:00:21 for 3rd, with Ogikubo tying all-time Japanese #8 in 1:00:22 for 4th and top Japanese.

4th and 5th placers Yuma Nishizawa and Neo Namiki both cleared 1:00:30, and Daisuke Sato of Chuo University made up a 10-second gap at 10 km to take the top Japanese collegiate spot at 7th overall in a PB of 1:00:40. The top 20 all broke 61, 11 of them collegiate runners, and excluding 2 people debuting, everyone in the top 25 except Maru and Norway's Sondre Moen ran a PB. A sub-61 half just isn't what it used to be. But the depth was as stellar as you'd expect from a top-tier Japanese half even with the wind, the top 70 going under 62 and 130 under 63. Down in 150th place, Tokyo Paralympic Yuki Iwata set a 1:03:12 WR in the ID class.






It was a pretty strong contrast in the women's race, where despite having men around to run with only 3 people in the top 20 ran PBs. 2-time champ Dolphine Omare went out in an aggressive 15:26 and 30:47 through 5 km and 10 km, 1:04:57 pace, but slowed as soon as she went around the turnaround and into the wind. She ultimately missed her own CR from last year by 10 seconds but still took 1st in 1:06:15, her 3rd-straight Marugame title. "She was OK through 20 km, but she really had a hard time in the last km," Omare's coach Stephen Mayaka told JRN post-race. "In better weather she can do 65 for sure."

Saying pre-race that she hoped to run 65, Eilish McColgan went out in 15:34 and 31:18, 1:06:02 pace, but faded even harder than Omare over the next 5 km. But where Omare continued to slow McColgan rallied, faster than Omare by 1 second from 15 to 20 km and by 3 seconds over the last 1.0975. "It was hard," she told JRN. "I was on my own a lot of the time. Men kept coming back to me, which gave me something to target, but they had all gone out too fast and were dying so I kept passing them. There wasn't anyone I could latch onto."

Japan-based Susan Kamotho ran an extremely well-paced debut, only 16:17 through 5 km but then clocking 16:00-16:03-16:02 to move pass Australian Isobel Batt-Doyle for 3rd in 1:07:56. Batt-Doyle hung on to 4th in 1:08:51, telling JRN, "I wanted to run better since I'd run well here before, but it was a hard day out there and I just told myself to make sure I got under 1:09." Tokyo World Championships marathoner Kana Kobayashi took the top Japanese spot at 5th in 1:09:28.


78th Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon

Marugame, Kagawa, 1 Feb. 2026

Women
1. Dolphine Omare (Kenya/Uniqlo) - 1:06:15
2. Eilish McColgan (Great Britain) - 1:07:08
3. Susan Kamotho (Kenya/Bears) - 1:07:56 - debut
4. Isobel Batt-Doyle (Australia) - 1:08:51
5. Kana Kobayashi (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:09:28
6. Hikaru Kitagawa (Univ. Ent.) - 1:10:29 - PB
7. Sarah Wanjiru (Kenya/Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:10:50 - debut
8. Yuka Ando (Japan/Shimamura) - 1:11:00
9. Ayumi Morita (Tokyo Metro) - 1:11:16 - PB
10. Kaho Onishi (Route Inn Hotels) - 1:11:38 - debut
11. Charlotte Purdue (Great Britain) - 1:11:57
12. Sakura Yumiki (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 1:12:33 - debut
13. Munkhzaya Bayartsogt (Mongolia) - 1:12:43 - PB
14. Azusa Sumi (Univ. Ent.) - 1:12:53
15. Chisato Kagaya (Tokyo Metro) - 1:14:24
16. Rebecca Lowe (Australia) - 1:15:24
17. Hanami Koga (SID Group) - 1:15:29
18. Mirai Waku (Univ. Ent.) - 1:16:10
19. Manami Takami (Nagato T&F Assoc.) - 1:18:11
20. Portia Olsen (Australia) - 1:21:22

Men
1. Richard Etir (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 59:07 - CR, Univ NR
2. Emmanuel Maru (Kenya/Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:06
3. Santiago Catrofe (Uruguay) - 1:00:21 - NR
4. Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:22 - PB
5. Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:26 - PB
6. Neo Namiki (Subaru) - 1:00:29 - PB
7. Daisuke Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 1:00:40 - PB
8. Sondre Moen (Norway) - 1:00:46
9. Haruka Yamamoto (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:00:46 - PB
10. Takuma Ohama (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:00:48 - PB
11. Hiromichi Nonaka (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:00:51 - PB
12. Sodai Shimizu (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:00:52 - PB
13. So Kawasaki (Tsukuba Univ.) - 1:00:53 - PB
14. Itsuki Takaishi (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:00:53 - debut
15. Kazura Munakata (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:00:53 - PB
16. Shota Yamaguchi (Nihon Univ.) - 1:00:54 - PB
17. Yuta Asakawa (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:00:54 - PB
18. Ryo Goda (Yasukawa Denki) - 1:00:55 - PB
19. Riku Tamame (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:00:56 - PB
20. Takuya Hanyu (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:58 - debut
21. Daichi Shibata (Chuo Univ.) - 1:01:00 - PB
22. Kyosuke Kogure (SID Group) - 1:01:00 - PB
23. Tatsuya Tsunashima (YKK) - 1:01:01 - PB
24. Masanori Sumida (Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:01 - PB
25. Takuma Akiyoshi (Tokyo Univ.) - 1:01:01 - PB
-----
50. Sota Harada (Rikkyo Univ.) - 1:01:39 - PB
75. Seigo Sato (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:10 - PB
100. Soma Nagahara (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:02:29
125. Takumi Iwata (JFE Steel) - 1:02:54
150. Yuki Iwata (one's Para AC) - 1:03:12 - WR
175. Itsuki Okazaki (Surugadai Univ.) - 1:03:45
200. Yusuke Sato (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:26 - PB
225. Mirai Ogawa (Meiji Univ.) - 1:05:03
250. Asai Ouchi (Takushoku Univ.) - 1:05:44

text and photos © 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
I understand the windy conditions made it tricky for the runners and for a proper evaluation but those are some very good times and every outing it's more and more encouraging for the half marathon guys in Japan.

Well done to Etir, well done to the top guys and have to say that Koku Gakuin will likely feel much better at the perspective or losing their 4th years when they have runners giving this kind of performance. Nonaka is a sure thing but having Takaishi debuting 1.00.53 as a first year is certainly encouraging. Does that give him the u20 NR for half marathon? Or is it a couple of months too late for that? I know Noda established the NR in november as a first year too so was wondering if Takaishi stole it or it doesn't count.

Chuo had very good performances too and I was surprised to see Yamamoto and Tamame from Juntendo running those times and improving that much. No idea how that program made that kind of progress over the last 12 months but it confirms the great result they had at Hakone one month ago.

The more we see these kind of performances from all these schools, the longer it makes the wait for the next Ekiden season.

February 2, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...
3 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...
1 comment
Read more