Akaba Sets Course Record at Sanyo Women's Half Marathon, Noguchi 5th

by Brett Larner

Daegu World Championships marathon 5th-place finisher Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) ran an aggressive race Dec. 23 at the 30th Sanyo Women's Road Race half marathon, winning in a 1:09:16 record for the hilly course over a tough field including marathon national record holder Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex).

Akaba, Noguchi, 2010's top female Japanese half marathoner Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera), last year's Sanyo 10 km division winner Kenyan Sally Chepyego (Team Kyudenko), and Akaba's Daegu teammate Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) took the race out at course record pace. The pack ran the early stages fast enough that Noguchi, running as a test for her comeback at next month's Osaka International Women's Marathon, lost touch after only 7 km. The lead four hit 10 km in 32:45, on track for a 1:09:06 finish, before Akaba surged away to mid-68 pace and built a lead that was never cracked. Fading in the last 5 km, she nevertheless held on to take the course record by 4 seconds. "I ran this for practice, so I'm pretty happy to get the record," she said afterward.

The remaining three in the chase pack took turns trying to run Akaba down, and all three were rewarded with new PBs for their efforts. Miyauchi, last year's runner-up, eventually shook Chepyego and Ito off, nearly catching Akaba and missing the old course record by only 3 seconds as she took 2nd again in 1:09:23. Chepyego also cracked 70 minutes, with Ito just missing by 3 seconds. Noguchi did not appear to be in distress or pain after losing touch with the leaders, running steadily on to finish in 1:10:48 in her first half marathon since the spring of 2008. What that bodes for her Osaka match race against half marathon national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) for an Olympic team spot remains to be seen, but Noguchi's result was good enough to show that her comeback is continuing to move forward.

In the Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km, Kenyans Ann Karindi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) and Grace Kimanzi (Team Starts) went 1-2 against Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) and Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.), with Karindi pulling away for the win in 32:47. Karindi's former teammate and pre-race favorite Hitomi Niiya (Sakura AC) was a late scratch.

2011 Sanyo Women's Road Race
Okayama, 12/23/11
click here for complete results

Yuko Arimori Cup Half Marathon
1. Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) - 1:09:16 - CR
2. Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 1:09:23 - PB
3. Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 1:09:58 - PB
4. Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:10:03 - PB
5. Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) - 1:10:48
6. Yuko Watanabe (Team Edion) - 1:11:40
7. Naoko Sakamoto (Team Tenmaya) - 1:12:01
8. Noriko Higuchi (Team Wacoal) - 1:12:19
9. Misato Horie (Team Noritz) - 1:12:34
10. Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) - 1:12:51

Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km
1. Ann Karindi (Kenya/Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 32:47
2. Grace Kimanzi (Kenya/Team Starts) - 32:56
3. Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) - 33:04
4. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 33:06
5. Yuka Hakoyama (Team Wacoal) - 33:21
6. Rina Yonetsu (Meijo Univ.) - 33:22
7. Machiko Iwakawa (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 33:27
8. Haruka Igarashi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 33:28
9. Yoko Aizu (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 33:30
10. Erika Ikeda (Meijo Univ.) - 33:36

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

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

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

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

japan running news

Search This Blog