Breaking away from Britain's Mara Yamauchi in the final stage of the race, Japan's Chisato Osaki, 19, won today’s 28th edition of the Matsue Ladies Half Marathon, Matsue, Japan, with 1:09:25.
Kenyan Evelyne Kimwei led early in the race, passing 5Km in 15:57, 10Km in 32:19 and 15Km in 49:22. Osaki and Yamauchi, who were behind Kimwei by twelve seconds at 5Km, twenty seconds at 10Km, and six seconds at 15Km, eventually passed her before 20Km (1:05:52). And in the end Osaki won the final duel with Yamauchi by eleven seconds.
Yamauchi finished second in 1:09:36, while Kimwei of Kenya was third with 1:09:46.
It was Osaki’s half marathon debut. She is a team mate of Reiko Tosa and Yoko Shibui at Mitsui-Sumitomo Insurance. In the 2007 Inter-prefectural women's ekiden championships, Osaki, who holds the high school 10Km road record of 32:50, covered 10Km anchor stage in 31:49, the fastest by 31 seconds.
Historically, some of the best distance runners in Japan have run the Matsue Ladies Half Marathon early in their career. Naoko Takahashi won in 1997 with 1:10:35, Mizuki Noguchi finished second in 1999 with 1:11:56, and Yoko Shibui won in 2000 with 1:09:31. In each case, they made a major breakthrough in the marathon a few years later.
The collegiate half marathon championships were held concurrently and the defending champion Kei Terada won the championships with 1:11:00. Terada, who was seventh overall, was sixth at the half marathon in the 2005 World University Games. Finishing second in the collegiate championships is Yoshie Kurisu, who finished eighth overall with 1:11:22.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
Weather: sunny; temperature 8.1C; humidity 35%; wine 5.2m/s North East
Results:
1) Chisato Osaki 1:09:25 (16:10, 32:39, 49:28, 1:05:52)
2) Mara Yamauchi (GBR) 1:09:36 (16:09, 32:39, 49:28, 1:05:53)
3) Evelyne Kimwei (KEN) 1:09:46
4) Megumi Seike 1:10:52
5) Ikuyo Yamashita 1:10:53
6) Mikiko Hara 1:10:55
7) Kei Terada 1:11:00 Collegiate champion
8) Yoshie Kurisu 1:11:22
9) Hiroko Shoi 1:11:29
10) Yukie Nakadomari 1:12:01
11) Keiko Nakasu 1:12:20
12) Yumiko Kinoshita 1:12:52
