Skip to main content

Kawauchi Wins Yaizu Minato Half Marathon

by Brett Larner


Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) won Sunday's Yaizu Minato Half Marathon by almost a minute in 1:03:47, outrunning dozens of university men to turn in his fastest half marathon since November.  His third time at Yaizu Minato, it was Kawauchi's fastest run on the flat seaside course and the fastest-ever by a general division entrant.  For his win Kawauchi was awarded the fishing town of Yaizu's local specialty, a large bonito.


Ryota Yabushita (Meiji Univ.) was 2nd across the line, beating Takumi Komatsu (Nittai Univ.) by 5 seconds to lead the university division in 1:04:39.  University teams in Yaizu Minato are scored by the combined times of their fastest two finishers, the Pair Marathon winners earning more bonito for their team.  Komatsu led Nittai to the title in 1:04:44, teammate Shun Onoki taking 4th in 1:04:57 for a combined Nittai time of 2:09:41.

31st Yaizu Minato Half Marathon
Yaizu, Shizuoka, 4/10/16

Men
1. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:03:47
2. Ryota Yabushita (Meiji Univ.) - 1:04:39
3. Takumi Komatsu (Nittai Univ.) - 1:04:44
4. Shun Onoki (Nittai Univ.) - 1:04:57
5. Ryusei Matsumoto (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:18
6. Kento Tamura (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:22
7. Daisuke Sakamoto (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:31
8. Kohei Yamamoto (Nittai Univ.) - 1:05:32
9. Naoyuki Fujihana (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:38
10. Yusei Shirokoshi (Nittai Univ) - 1:05:46

Pair Marathon
1. Nittai Univ. - 2:09:41
2. Chuo Gakuin Univ. - 2:11:09
3. Meiji Univ. - 2:11:36

©2016 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Japan's Olympic Marathon Team Meets the Press

With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao

Weekend Racing Roundup

  China saw a new men's national record of 2:06:57 from  Jie He  at the Wuxi Marathon Sunday, but in Japan it was a relatively quiet weekend with mostly cold and rainy amateur-level marathons across the country. At the Tokushima Marathon , club runner Yuhi Yamashita  won the men's race by almost 4 1/2 minutes in 2:17:02, the fastest Japanese men's time of the weekend, but oddly took 22 seconds to get across the starting line. The women's race saw a close finish between the top two, with Shiho Iwane  winning in 2:49:33 over Ayaka Furukawa , 2nd in 2:49:46.  At the 41st edition of the Sakura Marathon in Chiba, Yukie Matsumura  (Comodi Iida) ran the fastest Japanese women's time of the weekend, 2:42:45, to take the win. Club runner Yuki Kuroda  won the men's race in 2:20:08.  Chika Yokota  won the Saga Sakura Marathon women's race in 2:49:33.  Yuki Yamada  won the men's race in 2:21:47 after taking the lead in the final 2 km.  Naoki Inoue  won the 16th r

Sprinter Shoji Tomihisa Retires From Athletics at 105

A retirement ceremony for local masters track and field legend Shoji Tomihisa , 105, was held May 13 at his usual training ground at Miyoshi Sports Park Field in Miyoshi, Hiroshima. Tomihisa began competing in athletics at age 97, setting a Japanese national record 16.98 for 60 m in the men's 100~104 age group at the 2017 Chugoku Masters Track and Field meet. Last year Tomihisa was the oldest person in Hiroshima selected to run as a torchbearer in the Tokyo Olympics torch relay. Due to the coronavirus pandemic the relay on public roads was canceled, and while he did take part in related ceremonies his run was ultimately canceled. Tomihisa recently took up the shot put, but in light of his fading physical strength he made the decision to retire from competition. Around 30 members of the Shoji Tomihisa Booster Club attended the retirement ceremony. After receiving a bouquet of flowers from them Tomihisa in turn gave them a colored paper placard on which he had written the characters