by Brett Larner
Two veterans made comebacks to win the 2009 Hokkaido Marathon in its first edition on a new course. In the men's race Kenyan Daniel Njenga (Team Yakult) endured a relatively slow first 5k of 15:46, typical of hot, summery Hokkaido, before cutting loose at 12 km with a surge at world record pace. From 12 km to 18 km Njenga ran under 3:00 / km pace, clocking as fast as 2:50 / km to kill off all rivals. He hit halfway in 1:04:11 with a chase pack of three including fellow Kenyan Laban Kagika (Team JFE Steel), Seiji Kobayashi (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) and debutant Takayuki Tagami (Team Kyudenko) around 25 seconds behind.
A minute ahead of the Hokkaido Marathon record, Njenga began to slip in the heat and was down to 3:10 / km pace by 25 km. He continued to fade, but the chasers were likewise suffering and could make no headway. Approaching 40 km, first-timer Ryo Yamamoto (Team Sagawa Express) cruised past into second as Njenga dropped to 3:20 / km. Yamamoto almost …
Two veterans made comebacks to win the 2009 Hokkaido Marathon in its first edition on a new course. In the men's race Kenyan Daniel Njenga (Team Yakult) endured a relatively slow first 5k of 15:46, typical of hot, summery Hokkaido, before cutting loose at 12 km with a surge at world record pace. From 12 km to 18 km Njenga ran under 3:00 / km pace, clocking as fast as 2:50 / km to kill off all rivals. He hit halfway in 1:04:11 with a chase pack of three including fellow Kenyan Laban Kagika (Team JFE Steel), Seiji Kobayashi (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) and debutant Takayuki Tagami (Team Kyudenko) around 25 seconds behind.
A minute ahead of the Hokkaido Marathon record, Njenga began to slip in the heat and was down to 3:10 / km pace by 25 km. He continued to fade, but the chasers were likewise suffering and could make no headway. Approaching 40 km, first-timer Ryo Yamamoto (Team Sagawa Express) cruised past into second as Njenga dropped to 3:20 / km. Yamamoto almost …