Chebor Over Kawauchi for New Taipei City Course Record

by Brett Larner
photos by Mika Tokairin

In hopes of breaking their year-old 2:13:14 course record the organizers of Taiwan's New Taipei City Wanjinshi Marathon brought in three 2:08 men, Kenyans William Chebon Chebor and Julius Ndiritu Karinga and Japan's Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), to give it a go. Running to show his support for the victims of last month's Tainan earthquake, Kawauchi took the challenge to heart. With a tough uphill first 5 km including a long tunnel he pushed things at sub-2:10 pace, unusually aggressive against tough competition and quickly disposing of everybody but Chebor and Karinga. Both took turns attacking, Chebor in particular matching Kawauchi's aggression with multiple hard surges. The lead changed countless times between all three but nobody got away cleanly.

At halfway Kawauchi led in 1:05:15, Karinga a second behind and Chebor one more back. Around 23 km Chebor threw in another hard surge and this time neither Kawauchi nor Karinga could stay with him. It looked like too much too far out, but Chebor's judgment proved sound as he ran the rest of the way in unthreatened. A hard kick coming out of the tunnel was enough to score him a new course record as he won in 2:13:05. Kawauchi and Karinga stuck together through 35 km before Kawauchi said goodbye, putting in a long surge that brought him closer to Chebor and gave him 2nd in 2:14:12. Karinga faded to 3rd in 2:14:52, nearly run down by Ethiopian Belay Mamo Abadoyo on the last downhill.

Kenyan Hellen Wanjiku Mugo also took the women's race out aggressively, on 2:25-flat pace with a lead of over a minute and a half by 10 km and stretching it out to a lead of almost four minutes before things started to fall apart. Between 30 km and 35 km Mugo was so spent that she actually stopped to turn around and look to see if anyone was catching her, barely shuffling when she turned back around to start running again. Ukrainian Olha Kotobska quickly gunned her down, coming up just short of the course record to win in 2:36:38. An Ethiopian trio led by Bentu Shiferaw Wodajo likewise overtook Mugo to sweep the next three spots, Mugo staggering in to finish 5th in 2:40:14. Masters runner Chihiro Tanaka (AthlecAC), like Kawauchi appearing with support from JRN, was 9th overall as the top Japanese woman.

New Taipei City Wanjinshi Marathon
New Taipei City, Taiwan, 3/20/16
click here for complete results

Men
1. William Chebon Chebor (Kenya) - 2:13:05 - CR
2. Yuki Kawauchi (Japan/Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 2:14:12
3. Julius Ndiritu Karinga (Kenya) - 2:14:52
4. Belay Mamo Abadoyo (Ethiopia) - 2:14:55
5. Getu Nigussie Demie (Ethiopia) - 2:18:35

Women
1. Olha Kotobska (Ukraine) - 2:36:38
2. Bentu Shiferaw Wodajo (Ethiopia) - 2:38:11
3. Meseret Godana Agama (Ethiopia) - 2:38:14
4. Abiyot Eshetu Deme (Ethiopia) - 2:39:26
5. Hellen Wanjiku Mugo (Kenya) - 2:40:14
-----
9. Chihiro Tanaka (Japan/Athlec AC) - 2:58:53

text © 2016 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
photos © 2016 Mika Tokairin, all rights reserved

World Championships Medalist Racewalking Coach Mizuho Sakai Recognized With Highest Coaching Honor

The 2023 Mizuno Sports Mentor Awards recognizing excellence in coaching were held Apr. 23 in Tokyo. Toyo University assistant coach and race walking coach Mizuho Sakai was given a gold award, the program's highest honor, and expressed her thanks and joy in a speech at the award ceremony. The coach of 2023 Budapest World Championships men's 35 km race walk bronze medalist Masatora Kawano , Sakai said, "This is an incredible honor and I'm truly grateful. As a child I wanted to be in the sporting world and I've spent my life in that world. My end goal was always to play a supporting role for other athletes, so I'm honored to be recognized in this way." Sakai's husband Toshiyuki Sakai , head coach of Toyo's three-time Hakone Ekiden champion team, attended the awards gala with her and was also introduced to the audience. After bowing he took a seat in front of her and watched with warmth as she received recognition for her outstanding work. The Mizun

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

Weekend Track Roundup

The two-day Hyogo Relay Carnival was the biggest meet of the weekend on the Japanese calendar. Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) kicked off her 2nd academic year with a 31:48.11 win in the GP women's 10000 m, beating Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) by 4 seconds. Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) had a tighter win in the GP men's 10000 m, 27:58.01 to 27:58.35 over Jonson Mugeni (Asia Univ.). Kenyans also dominated the men's B and C-heats, Nelson Mandela (Obirin Univ.) taking the B-heat by 0.06 over Stephen Muthini (Soka Univ.) in 28:05.37 and Patrick Wambui (NTT Nishi Nihon) the C-heat in 28:14.83. Top Japanese marks across the four races were 32:24.50 by Sora Shinozakura (Panasonic), 28:11.30 by Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon), 28:41.68 by Masashi Nonaka (Toyota), and 28:42.38 by former Rikkyo University head coach Yuichiro Ueno (Hiramatsu Byoin). The GP women's 3000 mSC might have been the best race of the meet, both Miu Saito (Nittai Univ.) and Mana

japan running news

Search This Blog