Skip to main content

London World Championships Marathoner Shigetomo Tunes Up in Hakodate

A month out from the London World Championships, women's marathon team member Risa Shigetomo (Tenmaya) tuned up with her first road race since winning January's Osaka International Women's Marathon, lining up at Hokkaido's Hakodate Half Marathon. Running in the second pack with 2015 winner Asami Kato (Panasonic) and last year's winner Hiroko Miyauchi (Hokuren), Shigetomo took 6th in 1:14:38.

3rd the last two years, Yuko Mizuguchi (Denso) scored the win in 1:13:37 over Reia Iwade (Dome) and Miharu Shimokado (Nitori), both still adjusting to recent team and coaching changes. London team alternate Misato Horie (Noritz) was also in action in Hokkaido later the same day, running 16:21.77 for 10th in the women's 5000 m at the season's first Hokuren Distance Challenge meet in Shibetsu.

In the men's race in Hakodate last year's top three shuffled positions to sweep the podium again. 2nd last year, Charles Ndungu (Komori Corp.) got the better of defending champ Paul Kuira (Konica Minolta) and 2015 winner / last year's 3rd-placer Michael Githae (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) to score his first win in 1:02:40 by just 4 seconds over sub-60 man Kuira. Local boy Masato Kikuchi (Konica Minolta) was the top Japanese man at 4th in 1:04:50.

After moving from a mid-fall to early summer race date, last year Hakodate added a full marathon to its schedule. Participation numbers in the full were down this year, but Shun Imamura (Press Kogyo) took over four minutes off the men's course record to win in 2:22:37. Amateur Asami Kagawa (Asahikawa RC) won the women's race in 3:08:42, 22 minutes slower than last year's winning time.

27th Hakodate Half Marathon

Hakodate, Hokkaido, 7/2/17
click here for complete results

Women's Half Marathon
1. Yuko Mizuguchi (Denso) - 1:13:37
2. Reia Iwade (Dome) - 1:13:50
3. Miharu Shimokado (Nitori) - 1:13:55
4. Asami Kato (Panasonic) - 1:14:13
5. Hiroko Miyauchi (Hokuren) - 1:14:27
6. Risa Shigetomo (Tenmaya) - 1:14:38

Men's Half Marathon
1. Charles Ndungu (Komori Corp.) - 1:02:40
2. Paul Kuira (Konica Minolta) - 1:02:44
3. Michael Githae (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:03:24
4. Masato Kikuchi (Konica Minolta) - 1:04:50
5. Fumihiro Maruyama (Asahi Kasei) - 1:05:04
6. Yuki Oshikawa (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:05:06

Women's Marathon
1. Asami Kagawa (Asahikawa RC) - 3:08:42

Men's Marathon
1. Shun Imamura (Press Kogyo) - 2:22:37 - CR

© 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that  Sis
Post a Comment
Read more

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n
1 comment
Read more

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

  In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el
Post a Comment
Read more