Skip to main content

Murayama Leads World Half Marathon Team

http://www.daily.co.jp/newsflash/general/2014/02/18/0006719014.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

On Feb. 18 the Japanese Federation announced Kenta Murayama (Komazawa University), 20,  and the other nine members of the Japanese national team for the Mar. 29 World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Note: 2011-2013 National University Ekiden champion Komazawa's Ikuto Yufu, the 2013 National University 1500 m champion and 1:02:51 at November's Ageo City Half Marathon, has also joined the Mar. 16 New York City Half Marathon field.

World Half Marathon Championships - Japanese Team
Copenhagen, Denmark, Mar. 29, 2014

Men
Kenta Murayama (Komazawa University) - 1:00:50 (Marugame Half 2014) - all-time Japanese #3
Masato Kikuchi (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:01:17 (National Corporate Half 2014)
Sota Hoshi (Team Fujitsu) - 1:01:18 - (National Corporate Half 2014) 2013 national champion, 5000 m
Hiroto Inoue (Yamanashi Gakuin University) - 1:01:39 (Marugame Half 2014)
Shogo Nakamura (Komazawa University) - 1:02:41 (National University Half 2013) - bronze medal, 2013 World University Games Half Marathon, 2013 National University Half Marathon champion

Women
Reia Iwade (Team Noritz) - 1:09:45 (Sanyo Women's Half 2013)
Sayo Nomura (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 1:10:03 (Sanyo Women's Half 2013)
Risa Takenaka (Team Shiseido) - 1:10:10 (National Corporate Half 2014)
Rina Yamazaki (Team Panasonic) - 1:10:45 (National Corporate Half 2014)
Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) - 1:10:45 (National Corporate Half 2014)

Comments

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

The Ivy League at the Izumo Ekiden in Review

Last week I was contacted by Will Geiken , who I'd met years ago when he was a part of the Ivy League Select Team at the Izumo Ekiden . He was looking for historical results from Izumo and lists of past team members, and I was able to put together a pretty much complete history, only missing the alternates from 1998 to 2010 and a little shaky on the reverse transliterations of some of the names from katakana back into the Western alphabet for the same years. Feel free to send corrections or additions to alternate lists. It's interesting to go back and see some names that went on to be familiar, to see the people who made an impact like Princeton's Paul Morrison , Cornell's Max King , Stanford's Brendan Gregg in one of the years the team opened up beyond the Ivy League, Cornell's Ben de Haan , Princeton's Matt McDonald , and Harvard's Hugo Milner last year, and some of the people who struggled with the format. 1998 Team: 15th of 21 overall, 2:14:10 (43

Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes - Weekend Road Roundup

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was back to running performances consistent with his other PBs with a 1:02:30 for 8th. His AGU teammate Kyosuke Hiramatsu was 10th in 1:04:00. Women's winner Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) also set a new CR in 1:09:57. Aoyama Gakuin runners took the top four spots in the men's half marathon at the Aomori Sakura Marathon , with Hakone alternate Kosei Shiraishi getting the win in 1:04:32 and B-team members Shunto Hamakawa and Kei Kitamura 2nd and 3rd in 1:04:45 and 1:04:48. Club runners took the other division titles, Hina Shinozaki winning the women's half