Skip to main content

Mathathi, Imai Take Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler

by Brett Larner

Lost in the shuffle following Tsegaye Kebede's record-breaking run at today's Fukuoka International Marathon, the world's most competitive 10-miler took place across Kyushu at the 2009 Kumamoto Kosa 10 Mile Road Race. A total of 90 men broke 50 minutes at the race, a tune-up for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national corporate championships.

In the "International Division," made up of Japan-based foreigners who run for Japanese corporate teams and are given an inscrutable one-minute headstart, 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Team Suzuki) won in 44:52, just one second off his course and world junior record of 44:51. In the Japanese Division, former Juntendo University Hakone Ekiden "God of the Mountain" 5th Stage record breaker Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) scored the first big result of his pro career with a 46:40 win by one second over university-era Hakone 5th stage rival Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin). Nissin Shokuhin runners took three of the top five spots, giving even more fuel to the seeming inevitability of a New Year Ekiden win.

2009 Kumamoto Kosa 10 Mile Road Race - Top Finishers
click here for complete results
International Division
1. Martin Mathathi (Team Suzuki) - 44:52
2. John Thuo (Team Toyota) - 45:23
3. Micah Njeru (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 46:13
4. Martin Mukule (Team Toyota) - 46:32
5. James Mwangi (Team NTN) - 46:32

Japanese Division
1. Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 46:40
2. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 46:41
3. Bene Zama (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 46:45
4. Hiroki Kadota (Team Kanebo) - 46:55
5. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 47:09
6. Koichi Sakai (Team Fujitsu) - 47:10
7. Hiroyoshi Umegae (Team NTN) - 47:11
8. Hiroyuki Ono (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 47:12
9. Kenichi Jiromaru (Oita Tomei H.S.) - 47:14
10. Yukiyoshi Kino (Team S&B) - 47:15

(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Weekend Racing Roundup

  China saw a new men's national record of 2:06:57 from  Jie He  at the Wuxi Marathon Sunday, but in Japan it was a relatively quiet weekend with mostly cold and rainy amateur-level marathons across the country. At the Tokushima Marathon , club runner Yuhi Yamashita  won the men's race by almost 4 1/2 minutes in 2:17:02, the fastest Japanese men's time of the weekend, but oddly took 22 seconds to get across the starting line. The women's race saw a close finish between the top two, with Shiho Iwane  winning in 2:49:33 over Ayaka Furukawa , 2nd in 2:49:46.  At the 41st edition of the Sakura Marathon in Chiba, Yukie Matsumura  (Comodi Iida) ran the fastest Japanese women's time of the weekend, 2:42:45, to take the win. Club runner Yuki Kuroda  won the men's race in 2:20:08.  Chika Yokota  won the Saga Sakura Marathon women's race in 2:49:33.  Yuki Yamada  won the men's race in 2:21:47 after taking the lead in the final 2 km.  Naoki Inoue  won the 16th r

Japan's Olympic Marathon Team Meets the Press

With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao

Takeuchi Wins Niigata Half in Boston Tune-Up

Running in cold, windy and rainy conditions, Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) warmed up for April's Boston Marathon with a win at Wednesday's Niigata Half Marathon . Takeuchi sat behind Nittai University duo Susumu Yamazaki and Ryuga Ishikawa in the early stages, then made a series of pushes to pick up the pace. Each time he tucked in behind whoever went to the front, while behind them others dropped off. Before 15 km only Yamazaki and Riki Koike of Soka University were left, and when Takeuchi went to the front the last time after 15 km only Koike followed. By 16 he was gone too, leaving Takeuchi to solo it in to the win in 1:03:13 with a 17-second negative split. "This was my last fitness check before the Boston Marathon next month, and my time was right on-target," he said post-race. "Everything went as planned. I'm looking forward to racing some of the world's best in Boston, and my goal there is to place in the single digits." Just back from tr