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

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...
2 comments
Read more

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...
Post a Comment
Read more

JAAF Announces Marathon Teams for Nagoya Asian Games

On Mar. 25 the JAAF announced Japan's marathon team lineups for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games. Yuya Yoshida (GMO) and Ichitaka Yamashita (Mitsubishi Juko) make up the men's team, with Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku) and Mikuni Yada (Edion) representing Japan in the women's marathon. Each country can field up to 2 men and 2 women per marathon team at the Asian Games. The top-ranked male and female athletes in the 2025-26 MGC Series rankings were given first priority, with the second slots going to people with high-level performances in the 2025-26 MGC Series. Yoshida ran 2:05:16 to win the 2024 Fukuoka International Marathon, and at February's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon ran an excellent 2:06:59 to take the top Japanese spot in the race and in the MGC rankings. After having run the Tokyo World Championships marathon last fall this will be his second-straight marathon national team in a major international championships. Yamashita ran 2:06:18 at February's Osak...
Post a Comment
Read more