japan running news

Takumi Komatsu (NTT Nishi Nihon) became the 21st Japanese man to break 62 minutes in the half marathon so far this year with a 1:01:35 for 8th at the U.K.'s Great North Run. Great North Run Half Marathon Newcastle, Great Britian, 9/8/19 complete results Men 1. Mo Farah (Great Britain) - 59:07 2. Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia) - 59:13 3. Abei Nageeye (Netherlands) - 59:55 4. Callum Hawkins (Great Britain) - 1:00:39 5. Bashir Abdi (Belgium) - 1:01:11 ----- 8. Takumi Komatsu (Japan) - 1:01:35 12. Kyohei Hosoya (Japan) - 1:03:39 18. Tsuyoshi Bando (Japan) - 1:05:21 20. Shoma Yamamoto (Japan) - 1:06:40 Women 1. Brigid Kosgei (Kenya) - 1:04:28 2. Magdalyne Masai (Kenya) - 1:07:36 3. Linet Masai (Kenya) - 1:07:44 4. Mary Keitany (Kenya) - 1:07:58 5. Charlotte Purdue (Great Britain) - 1:08:10 text and photos © 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Held alongside the Osaka International Women's Marathon , the Osaka Half Marathon has continued to grow at the elite level into one of the post-ekiden season's top-tier Japanese half marathons. On the women's side, Maki Ashi (Kyudenko) was just off her best as she won in 1:11:26, opening a lead of over 20 seconds in the first 5 km and going the rest of the way alone. Ayaka Yokose (Yamada Denki) was the only other woman to crack 1:12, 2nd in 1:11:58. Taiwanese national record holder Chien-ho Hsieh spent most of the race in 3rd, but despite getting caught by Madoka Nakano (Noritz) with just over 5 km to go Hsieh pushed on to take almost three minutes off her own national record, landing 4th in 1:12:19. The men's race saw a deep pack go through halfway on sub-1:02 pace, things slowing slightly before 15 km but no real carnage happening until the final stages. With seven still in contention with just over a kilometer to go it came down to a sprint finish on the tra...