The Matsue Ladies Half Marathon, which doubles as the National University Women’s Half Marathon, saw one of the tightest finishes in its history after three-straight years of pandemic-era cancelations. Panasonic’s Yuki Nakamura beat top collegian Hikaru Kitagawa of Osaka Geijutsu University by 2 seconds to win in 1:10:48. A corporate leaguer also took the 10 km division, with Yuna Takahashi from the Shimamura team winning by over 6 minutes in 33:47.
Surprisingly, Kitagawa’s time of 1:10:50 was the fastest-ever in the university women’s championships division, 10 seconds under the old record dating back to 1:11:00. A performing arts major at Osaka Geijutsu specializing in musical theater, Kitagawa earned a place on the Japanese team at this summer’s World University Games. Complete results.
At the Tokushima Marathon, Rie Kawauchi set a new women’s course record of 2:33:50, with Haruka Yamaguchi 2nd in 2:39:38 and Yuka Ando 3rd in 2:44:57 to make it a sweep of the top 3 by women who have already qualified for October’s MGC Race Olympic marathon trials. Kawauchi’s Otsuka Seiyaku teammate Kazuki Noda won the men’s race in 2:18:10, the only one to break 2:20. Complete results.
© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Brett Larner – Japan Running News