Wind and rain hit the 20th anniversary Nagano Marathon hard enough to slow things down, Japan's Asami Furuse (Kyocera) and Ethiopian Abdela Godana taking the top spots in the women's and men's races.
Coached by former men's half marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato, Furuse and teammate Saki Tokoro were part of a lead group of five women that set out on low 2:33 pace. Kenyan Beatrice Jepkemboi dropped off he group near 20 km and Yukiko Okuno (Shiseido) did the same a few minutes later, leaving the Kyocera duo to face remaining Kenyan Pauline Wangui over the second half.
Tokoro cracked just before 30 km and Wangui around 32 km, leaving Furuse to push on alone to an evenly-paced 2:34:09. Wangui faded to 4th, run down first by Tokoro and then by Okuno. Tokoro made it a 1-2 finish for Kyocera, another success for Sato is his short coaching career to date. 4th last year, former Tenmaya runner Aki Otagiri moved up from the second pack to take the 5th spot this time o…
Coached by former men's half marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato, Furuse and teammate Saki Tokoro were part of a lead group of five women that set out on low 2:33 pace. Kenyan Beatrice Jepkemboi dropped off he group near 20 km and Yukiko Okuno (Shiseido) did the same a few minutes later, leaving the Kyocera duo to face remaining Kenyan Pauline Wangui over the second half.
Tokoro cracked just before 30 km and Wangui around 32 km, leaving Furuse to push on alone to an evenly-paced 2:34:09. Wangui faded to 4th, run down first by Tokoro and then by Okuno. Tokoro made it a 1-2 finish for Kyocera, another success for Sato is his short coaching career to date. 4th last year, former Tenmaya runner Aki Otagiri moved up from the second pack to take the 5th spot this time o…