Japanese Women Win Team Bronze at Cardiff World Half Marathon Championships

by Brett Larner

Led by a 10th-place overall finish by Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) with support from top-20 placings by Miho Shimizu (Team Hokuren) and Mizuki Matsuda (Team Daihatsu), the Japanese women narrowly held off Australia to score the team bronze medal at the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff. All three scoring members turned in solid runs, Ando and Matsuda seconds off their bests and Shimizu, the fastest on the team with a PB of 1:09:41 at last month's National Corporate Half Marathon Championships, just over a minute off hers.

Likewise bronze medal quality on paper with one runner with a 1:00:54 best, two under 1:01:30 and a fourth at 1:01:53, the Japanese men left their races at home as they struggled to make the top five. Komazawa University second-year Naoki Kudo, 5th in last year's World University Games Half Marathon, was the top Japanese man and the only one to break 64 minutes as he finished 22nd in 1:03:41. The other two scoring members, Minato Oishi (Team Toyota) and Keijiro Mogi (Team Asahi Kasei), ran 1:04:11 and 1:04:19 for 28th and 29th, outrunning the U.S.A. by just 17 seconds to keep a place in the top five. Tokyo-based Bedan Karoki (Kenya) of the DeNA corporate team took 2nd overall in 59:36, his first-ever half marathon loss, with former Mazda runner Abayneh Ayele just out of the individual medals in 4th in a PB of 59:59.

World Half Marathon Championships
Cardiff, Great Britain, 3/26/16
click here for complete results

Women
1. Peres Jepchirchir (Kenya) - 1:07:31
2. Cynthia Jerotich Limo (Kenya) - 1:07:34
3. Mary Wacera Ngugi (Kenya) - 1:07:54
4. Netsanet Gudeta (Ethiopia) - 1:08:01
5. Genet Yalew (Ethiopia) - 1:08:01
6. Gladys Chesir Kiptagelai (Kenya) - 1:08:46
7. Pascalia Chepkorir Kipkoech (Kenya) - 1:09:44
8. Dehininet Demsew (Ethiopia) - 1:10:13 - PB
9. Gladys Tejeda (Peru) - 1:10:14 - AR
10. Yuka Ando (Japan) - 1:10:34
-----
14. Miho Shimizu (Japan) - 1:10:51
17. Mizuki Matsuda (Japan) - 1:11:00
36. Hisami Ishii (Japan) - 1:13:41
68. Mirai Waku (Japan) - 1:17:30

Team Scoring
1. Kenya - 3:22:59
2. Ethiopia - 3:26:29
3. Japan - 3:32:25
4. Australia - 3:32:48
5. U.S.A. - 3:34:26

Men
1. Geoffrey Kamworor (Kenya) - 59:10
2. Bedan Karoki (Kenya) - 59:36
3. Mo Farah (Great Britain) - 59:59
4. Abayneh Ayele (Ethiopia) - 59:59 - PB
5. Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia) - 1:00:06 - PB
6. Simon Cheroot (Kenya) - 1:00:12
7. Abrar Osman (Eritrea) - 1:00:58
8. Mule Wasihun (Ethiopia) - 1:01:11
9. Edwin Kiptoo (Kenya) - 1:01:21
10. Stephen Mokoka (South Africa) - 1:01:27
-----
22. Naoki Kudo (Japan) - 1:03:41
28. Minato Oishi (Japan) - 1:04:11
29. Keijiro Mogi (Japan) - 1:04:19
35. Keisuke Nakatani (Japan) - 1:04:43
36. Shogo Nakamura (Japan) - 1:04:49

Team Scoring
1. Kenya - 2:58:58
2. Ethiopia - 3:01:16
3. Eritrea - 3:06:18
4. Great Britain - 3:07:00
5. Japan - 3:12:11

© 2016 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

Fujitsu and Toyoda Issue Statement on Circumstances of His Two-Year Suspension for Trenbolone

Following 400 m hurdler Masaki Toyoda 's suspension for a violation of anti-doping regulations , the Fujitsu corporate team published a statement on its website, including comments from Toyoda's legal team , explaining the ruling and the circumstances surrounding the case. Toyoda was a member of the 2019 Doha World Championships team and holds a best of 48.87. Early in the morning of May 19, 2022, the Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) conducted a doping test of Toyoda. The prohibited substance trenbolone was detected in urine taken during the test, resulting in a two-year suspension that began May 21, 2022. He did not compete at the National Track and Field Championships the next month. The amount of trenbolone detected in Toyoda's urine sample was 1.4 ng/ml, well below the minimum analytical precision of 2.5 ng/ml required by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for analytical equipment. As a general rule, if a non-specified prohibited substance such as trenbolone is dete

“The Miracle in Fukuoka” - Real Talk From Yuki Kawauchi on “Taking on the World” (part 1)

http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/column/detail/201701120002-spnavi translated by Brett Larner Ahead of his nomination to the London World Championships Marathon team, Sportsnavi published a three-part series of writings by Yuki Kawauchi on what it took for him to make the team, his hopes for London, and his views on the future of Japanese marathoning. With his place on the London team announced on Mar. 17 , JRN will publish an English translation of the complete series over the next three days. See Sportsnavi's original version linked above for more photos. Click here for part two, " Bringing All My Experience Into Play in London ," or here for part three, " The Lessons of the Past Are Not 'Outdated.' " The Fukuoka International Marathon was held on Dec. 4 last year. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov’t) took part despite nursing injuries he had sustained in training. Falling rain contributed to less than ideal conditions during the race, but from th

japan running news

Search This Blog