Daniel Njenga (KEN) wins the 2004 Tokyo Marathon (© AFP/Getty Images)
Daniel Njenga, a Kenyan 2:06 marathon runner living in Japan, out-kicked Takayuki Matsumiya in the final 200m to win the All JPN Corporate Half Marathon Championships in Yamaguchi, while Terumi Asoshina, a teammate of Yumiko Hara, who won the Nagoya Women’s marathon later on the day, dominated the women’s race.
In the men’s race Takayuki Matsumiya, who improved his own 30Km World record two weeks ago controlled the race. After a huge pack passed 5Km in 15:06, Matsumiya threw his first surge at 8.6Km. The lead pack with Matsumiya in front passed 10Km in 29:26. By 15Km (44:00), the pack was reduced to 10 runners. Matsumiya threw his second surge at 19Km taking Njenga and Toshihiro Iwasa with him. His third surge came with 1Km to go, causing Iwasa to fall behind. Njenga who took over the lead at 20.5Km outkicked Matsumiya in the last 200m to win by one second with 1:01:31.
In the women’s race, Terumi Asoshina was in control for the entire race. With Asoshina in front, the lead pack was down to 8 runners by 3Km, which was reduced further to two runners – Asoshina and Kana Yoshida - by 5Km (16:14). Asoshina continued to push the pace and at 7.8Km, she broke away from Yoshida. Passing 10Km in 32:13 and 15Km in 49:00, Asoshina, ran the rest of the race alone and won by 35 seconds in 1:09:54.
Because the race was one of the qualifying races for the World Half Marathon championships, Takayuki Matsumiya and Terumi Asoshina were guaranteed the spot on the World Half marathon team.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
With assistance from Akihiro Onishi
Weather: Sunny, temperature 2C, humidity 73%, wind 2.7m/s
Results:
Men
1) Daniel Njenga (KEN) 1:01:31
2) Takayuki Matsumiya 1:01:32
3) Toshihiro Iwasa 1:01:36
4) Kazuo Ietani 1:01:38
5) Hironori Arai 1:01:53
6) Takanobu Otsubo 1:01:55
7) Ryoji Matsushita 1:01:57
8) Yoichiro Akiyama 1:01:58
9) Satoshi Irifune 1:02:13
10) Koji Kannan 1:02:22
Women
1) Terumi Asoshina 1:09:54
2) Akane Taira 1:10:29
3) Madoka Ogi 1:10:31
4) Fumi Murata 1:10:35
5) Kana Yoshida 1:10:49
6) Hitomi Miyai 1:10:49
7) Yoko Miyauchi 1:11:21
8) Ruth Wanjiru (KEN) 1:11:26
9) Ayako Suzuki 1:12:06
10) Fujiko Takahashi 1:12:06
