Nakamura Takes National University Half, Kato and Deguchi Win Tamana and Sunpu

by Brett Larner

The National University Men's Half Marathon Championships in Tokyo led three competitive Japanese half marathons this weekend. Shogo Nakamura of 2012 National University Men's Ekiden winner Komazawa University outran defending champion Toshikatsu Ebina (Teikyo Univ.) for the win, 1:02:41 to 1:02:49 with the next three runners all going under 63 minutes for the first time. All told, 38 collegiate men broke 64 minutes with 175 clearing 67. The selection race for this summer's World University Games half marathon team, the overall fast day at the Championships ensured that Nakamura will lead a strong team this summer. In post-race comments he said that his goal is the gold medal.

At the Kanaguri Hai Tamana Half Marathon in Kumamoto, 19-year-old Daichi Kato (Team Toyota Kyushu) handed Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) his second loss of the year, keeping an eye on Kawauchi's water station surges and breaking away late in the race with a surge of his own to win in 1:03:01. Kawauchi held on to 2nd in 1:03:12, with Kato's Toyota Kyushu teammates taking the next two spots. In the women's 10 km, Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) won for a record-setting 5th time in 33:20, just holding off Kotomi Takayama (Team Sysmex) over the final kilometer. Shohei Otsuka (Oita Tomei H.S.) was impressive in the high school boys' 10 km, winning by more than 30 seconds in 29:32.

2012 national 5000 m champion Kazuya Deguchi (Team Asahi Kasei) had a relatively easy win at the Sunpu Half Marathon in Shizuoka, running 1:04:01 well ahead of last year's winner Shinichi Yamashita (Takigahara SDF Base). Local Yuki Sakata (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) had an even bigger margin of victory in the women's half marathon, winning in 1:14:48 by nearly a minute over Kaori Ito (Team Yutaka Giken).

16th National University Men's Half Marathon Championships
Tachikawa, Tokyo, 3/3/13
click here for complete results

1. Shogo Nakamura (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:41 - PB
2. Toshikatsu Ebina (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:49
3. Hiroki Yamagishi (Jobu Univ.) - 1:02:51 - PB
4. Shinichiro Tai (Hosei Univ.) - 1:02:54 - PB
5. Hiroto Inoue (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:58 - PB
6. Masaya Taguchi (Toyo Univ.) - 1:03:00 - PB
7. Shogo Sekiguchi (Hosei Univ.) - 1:03:01 - PB
8. Junji Katakawa (Daito Bunka Univ) - 1:03:04 - PB
9. Takashi Ichida (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:03:04 - PB
10. Shuhei Yamamoto (Waseda Univ.) - 1:03:12
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25. Hiroki Sugawa (Chuo Univ.) - 1:03:43
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50. Teruaki Yuda (Toyo Univ.) - 1:04:15
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100. Masato Terauchi (Toyo Univ.) - 1:05:06
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150. Eiichiro Sano (Josai Univ.) - 1:05:47
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175. Kodai Gozawa (Soka Univ.) - 1:05:59
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200. Akira Iwasaki (Hosei Univ.) - 1:06:17

64th Kanaguri Hai Tamana Half Marathon
Tamana, Kumamoto, 3/3/13
click here for complete results

Men's Half Marathon
1. Daichi Kato (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:01
2. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) - 1:03:12
3. Kaoru Hirosue (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:24
4. Yukinobu Nakazaki (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:41
5. Sho Matsueda (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) - 1:03:58

Women's 10 km
1. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 33:20
2. Kotomi Takayama (Team Sysmex) - 33:24
3. Yoko Aizu (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 33:32
4. Anna Hasuike (Team Higo Ginko) - 33:32
5. Yuki Mitsunobu (Team Kyocera) - 33:34

High School Boys' 10 km
1. Shohei Otsuka (Oita Tomei H.S.) - 29:32
2. Ryoichi Yoshida (Omuta H.S.) - 30:03
3. Tatsuhiko Hori (Omuta H.S.) - 30:10
4. Hirotsugu Nakahara (Oita Tomei H.S.) - 30:12
5. Noriaki Oyama (Omuta H.S) - 30:14

38th Shizuoka Sunpu Half Marathon
Sunpu, Shizuoka, 3/3/13
click here for complete results

Men
1. Kazuya Deguchi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 1:04:01
2. Shinichi Yamashita (Takigahara SDF Base) - 1:04:18
3. Takeshi Tsubouchi (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:04:47

Women
1. Yuki Sakata (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:14:48
2. Kaori Ito (Team Yutaka Giken) - 1:15:42
3. Ruka Nakamura (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 1:15:51

(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

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