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Showing posts with the label Mestawet Tufa

2013 as Seen by JRN Readers: Our Top Thirteen Stories of the Year

2013 was a big year for JRN, with total views since JRN's founding in 2007 crossing the one million mark in June and closing in on 1.5 million by year's end.  Needless to say, much of the readership revolved around the adventures of  Japan's most popular indy runner  Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref. Gov't), who factored into eight of our thirteen most-read stories of the year including all of the top three. 1. Mathathi Makes Transition to Marathon in Fukuoka, Kawauchi 3rd in Third Sub-2:10 of 2013  - Dec. 1 2007 Osaka World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/ Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) made a successful return to the marathon with the second-fastest-ever closing split on the Fukuoka course, while Kawauchi became the first Japanese man to break 2:10 three times in one year.   Click here for JRN's race preview . 2. Kawauchi Over Nakamoto in 2:08:15 Beppu-Oita Course Record  - Feb. 3 Kawauchi and London Olympian Kentaro Nakamoto ...

Tadese Over Mathathi for Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon CR; Tufa Gets Women's CR in Close Race With Kirwa

by Brett Larner video by Nick Ramsay World record holder Zersenay Tadese  (Eritrea) took down defending champion Martin Mathathi  (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) at Sunday's Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon , getting away early to set a new course record of 1:00:31.  Leading a pack of six through a 14:14 opening 5 km split, Tadese dropped a 14:04 over the next 5 km to take the race out of the competition's comfort zones and go ahead alone.  With a 37-second lead over the chase group of Mathathi, Jacob Wanjuki  (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) and Cyrus Njui (Kenya/ Team Hitachi Butsuryu) at 15 km Tadese backed off to a 14:34 split from 15 to 20 km, but despite Mathathi and Wanjuki picking it up and closing the gap they were too far away and had to settle for a duel for 2nd, Mathathi proving the stronger as he crossed the line in 1:00:54, two seconds ahead of Wanjuki.  Moscow World Championships marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), running just a week after g...

Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon Sets Up Tadese Vs. Mathathi and Jepkirui Vs. Tufa

by Brett Larner In its third running the Naoko Takahashi Cup Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon continues to take over from the Sendai International Half Marathon as Japan's premier late-spring half.  This year organizers have set up a pair of great duels among their overseas elites. On the men's side, world record holder Zersenay Tadese  (Eritrea) faces course record holder Martin Mathathi  (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) in a rematch of the 2007 Osaka World Championships 10000 m, where Tadese led most of the race until a surge from Mathathi, who ended up with bronze, knocked him out of the medals.  Other top international competition includes three-time Sapporo International Half Marathon winner Cyrus Njui  (Kenya/Team Hitachi Seiryu), Japan-based Kenyans Jacob Wanjuki (Team Aichi Seiko) and Micah Njeru  (Team Toyota Boshoku), 2005 Fukuoka International Marathon winner Dmytro Baranovskyy  (Ukraine) and American Ryan Vail . Seven sub-63 Japanese men are sch...