Skip to main content

Ikebe Tops Weekend Overseas Half Marathon Results at Great North Run

by Brett Larner

Three Japanese men from two rival companies were on the roads in Europe this weekend competing over the half marathon distance.  At the Great North Run former Meiji University captain Minoru Ikebe (Team Honda) had the fastest time of the three, running just off his PB in 1:03:48, the fastest time ever by a Japanese man on the Great North Run course even though far off winner 2011 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon winner and London Olympics bronze medalist Wilson Kipsang's winning time of 59:06.  Former Team Denso runner and 2012 Olympic Marathon gold medalist Tiki Gelana (Ethiopia) took 3rd in the women's race behind the outstanding debut of Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) and runner-up Edna Kiplagat (Kenya), the 2011 World Championships marathon gold medalist.

In the Czech Republic at the Usti nad Ladem Half Marathon, 2011 World Championships men's marathon team member Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota) ran almost 30 seconds off Ikebe's GNR time, clocking 1:04:18 for 4th, far behind winner Henry Kiplagat's solo 1:01:26.   His teammate Shingo Mishima (Team Toyota) was 30 seconds back in 1:04:48 for 6th.  Another former Team Denso Ethiopian, Betelhem Moges, won the women's race in 1:11:51.

2012 Great North Run Half Marathon
Gateshead, U.K., 9/16/12
click here for complete results

Men
1. Wilson Kipsang (Kenya) - 59:06
2. Micah Kogo (Kenya) - 59:07 - PB
3. Imane Merga (Ethiopia) - 59:56 - debut
4. Mike Kigen (Kenya) - 1:00:18
5. Emmanuel Bett (Kenya) - 1:00:56 - debut
6. Chris Thompson (U.K.) - 1:01:00 - PB
7. Collis Birmingham (Australia) - 1:01:25 - PB
8. Ryan Vail (U.S.A.) - 1:02:04 - PB
9. Nick McCormick (U.K.) - 1:02:44 - PB
10. Mustafa Mohamed (Sweden) - 1:03:12
-----
13. Minoru Ikebe (Team Honda) - 1:03:49

Women
1. Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) - 1:07:35 - debut
2. Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) - 1:07:41
3. Tiki Gelana (Ethiopia) - 1:07:48
4. Jelena Prokopcuka (Latvia) - 1:08:09
5. Jo Pavey (U.K.) - 1:09:20
6. Rene Kalmer (South Africa) - 1:10:13
7. Gemma Steel (U.K.) - 1:10:46
8. Caryl Jones (U.K.) - 1:11:18
9. Freya Murray (U.K.) - 1:12:23
10. Amy Whitehead (U.K.) - 1:13:15

2012 Usti nad Labem Half Marathon
Czech Republic, 9/16/12
click here for complete results

Men
1. Henry Kiplagat (Kenya) - 1:01:26
2. Adugna Tekele (Ethiopia) - 1:03:38
3. Boniface Kirui (Kenya) - 1:04:10
4. Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota) - 1:04:18
5. John Kiprotich (Kenya) - 1:04:48
6. Shingo Mishima (Team Toyota) - 1:04:48

Women
1. Betelhem Moges (Ethiopia) - 1:11:51
2. Tadelech Bekele (Ethiopia) - 1:12:01
3. Pamela Lisoreng (Kenya) - 1:13:13
4. Olga Kotovska (Ukraine) - 1:15:07
5. Yulia Ruban (Ukraine) - 1:15:30

text and photo (c) 2012 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

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
Post a Comment
Read more

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
Post a Comment
Read more

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
Post a Comment
Read more