Skip to main content

Chelimo, Batochir, Adachi, Koskei and Shintaku Headline Apr. 20 Nagano Marathon

by Brett Larner

The organizers of the Apr. 20 Nagano Marathon released the names of this year's elite field on Apr. 1.  2010 Nagano winner Nicholas Chelimo (Kenya), 2013 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon champion Serod Batochir (Mongolia/Team NTN) and 2012 Nagano runner-up Silas Sang (Kenya) lead the international field, while 2008 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon winner Tomoya Adachi (Team Asahi Kasei) headlines the Japanese men's field with a best of 2:10:22.

The semi-retired Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC) and Mika Okunaga (Yufuin Hammock AC) have the fastest bests in the women's field followed by 2:29 Kenyan Hellen Koskei, but with a 2:31:15 best for 8th at this year's Tokyo Marathon Rika Shintaku (Team Shimamura) may be the favorite for the win.  Look also for a challenge from Shoko Shimizu (Team Aichi Denki), 4th at last month's Wanjinshi New Taipei City Marathon.

16th Nagano Marathon Elite Field
Nagano, 4/20/14
click here for complete elite field listing

Men
Nicholas Chelimo (Kenya) - 2:07:38 (Eindhoven 2010)
Serod Batochir (Mongolia/Team NTN) - 2:09:00 (Hofu 2013)
Silas Sang (Kenya) - 2:09:10 (Nagano 2012)
Tomoya Adachi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:10:22 (Lake Biwa 2013)
Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:11:15 (Tokyo 2013)
Sergey Lebid (Ukraine) - 2:11:24 (Lisbon 2013)
Ryoichi Matsuo (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:12:11 (Nobeoka 2014)
Hiroki Kadota (Team Kanebo) - 2:12:25 (Beppu-Oita 2012)
Martin Waweru (Kenya) - debut - 1:02:02 (Marugame Half 2008)

Women
Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC) - 2:25:10 (Hokkaido 2009)
Mika Okunaga (Yufuin Hammock AC) - 2:27:16 (Osaka International Women's 2009)
Hellen Koskei (Kenya) - 2:29:33 (Seoul 2007)
Rika Shintaku (Team Shimamura) - 2:31:15 (Tokyo 2014)
Nebiat Habtemariam (Eritrea) - 2:32:04 (Hamburg 2008)
Shoko Shimizu (Team Aichi Denki) - 2:32:43 (Tokyo 2013)
Seika Iwamura (Team Higo Ginko) - 2:33:15 (Osaka International Women's 2010)
Lauren Shelley (Australia) - 2:33:42 (Tokyo International Women's 2005)
Alina Prokopeva (Russia) - 2:38:34 (Singapore 2012)
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