Skip to main content

Jason Lehmkuhle Wins Ome 30 km Road Race - First American Win Since 1983

by Brett Larner

American Jason Lehmkuhle in a sprint finish against Toyoyuki Abe meters before winning the 2011 Ome 30 km.

Jason Lehmkuhle won a tight sprint finish over Team NTT Nishi Nihon's Toyoyuki Abe at the 2011 Ome 30 km Road Race to become the first American to win the prestigious race since Greg Meyer's 1983 victory. Lehmkuhle was aggressive throughout the race, leading the field of over 15000 through the early kilometers and remaining at the head of the pack over the difficult ups and downs through the middle 20 km.

The pack, initially nine-strong, whittled down to a core of five by halfway. With roughly 5 km to go Lehmkuhle surged, first dropping eventual 4th-placer Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku), then frequent leader Ryotaro Nitta (Team Konica Minolta). Local boy Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) was the next to fall, leaving only Abe at Lehmkuhle's side. The pair rounded the final righthand corner together with Lehmkuhle on the inside, and in the last sprint to the finish Lehmuhle emerged a step ahead in 1:32:08 to take the win over Abe's 1:32:09. Shimizu hung on to 3rd in 1:33:15 with Ikawa just behind after having overtaken a fading Nitta.

Marathon great Hiromi Ominami (Yutic AC), running Ome as a tuneup for next month's Nagoya International Women's Marathon, won the women's race unchallenged in 1:46:27. Saori Makishima (Canon AC Kyushu), paced by her coach, 2:09:11 marathoner Akira Shimizu, was 2nd, with veteran Yoshimi Hoshino (eAthletes Shizuoka AC) 3rd.

In the 10 km division, high schooler Yusuke Uchikoshi (Kokugakuin Kugayama H.S.), the son of 1993 World Championships marathon 5th placer Tadao Uchikoshi, won the men's race in 30:29, just 9 seconds off the course record. Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) took the women's race, a virtual matchrace between Nihon ChemiCon and Team Hokuren, in 33:02, the fastest time ever by a Japanese woman on the Ome course.

2011 Ome 30 km Road Race
click here for complete results
Men
1. Jason Lehmkuhle (U.S.A.) - 1:32:08
2. Toyoyuki Abe (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) - 1:32:09
3. Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) - 1:33:15
4. Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:33:30
5. Ryotaro Nitta (Team Konica Minolta) - 1:34:05

Women
1. Hiromi Ominami (Yutic AC) - 1:46:27
2. Saori Makishima (Canon AC Kyushu) - 1:48:20
3. Yoshimi Hoshino (eAthletes Shizuoka AC) - 1:53:29

10 km Division
click here for complete results
High School Boys
1. Yusuke Uchikoshi (Kokugakuin Kugayama H.S.) - 30:29
2. Kajima Nakamura (Takushoku Prep H.S.) - 30:31
3. Yuichi Mihiro (Takushoku Prep H.S.) - 30:42

Women
1. Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 33:02
2. Kazumi Hashimoto (Team Hokuren) - 33:28
3. Tomoyo Izumi (Team Hokuren) - 33:38

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

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

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