Skip to main content

Kipkorir Defends Incheon Songdo International Half Marathon Title


Overcoming humid conditions and competition over two minutes faster than his best, 2016 Incheon Songdo International Half Marathon winner Paul Kipkorir (Kenya) negative splitted his way to his second-straight Incheon title, winning in 1:02:32.

Conditions just before the start were good, cool and breezy with light clouds. Even so, the early pace was unexpectedly slow given a field that included sub-60 men Edwin Rotich (Kenya) and Adunga Bikila (Ethiopia), Kipkorir, 2015 winner Isaac Kiplagat (Kenya) and five men with 62-minute bests including 19-year-old Japanese runner Tomoki Ota (Waseda Univ.). Running 3:01-02 per km kilometer for 5 km, a push from Kipkorir at the turnaround near 9 km was enough to shake off Ota and a few others but still took the lead pack through 10 km dead on 30:00.

Over the second half the humidity rose rapidly as the cloud cover shifted to mist, and one by one the contenders in the lead pack dropped off. In the final kilometers it came to a race between Kipkorir and Seifu Abdiwak (Ethiopia), but Kipkorir had the experience to seal it and open a winning margin of 26 seconds over Abdiwak.

Timothy Kattam (Kenya) took 3rd in 1:03:24, a PB by nearly two minutes as those around him suffered. Ota, who ran 1:02:48 at last November's Ageo City Marathon in his debut at the distance, faded badly as the conditions worsened, ultimately taking 13th in 1:07:16, his worst time in three half marathons to date. 2017 New Caledonia Marathon winner Yoshiki Koizumi (Raffine) experienced breathing difficulties and was never a factor, finishing far back in the pack among the amateur-level South Korean men. With no international women's field in the race the top woman among the seven South Koreans to start was Sook-Jeong Kim in 1:18:08.


Incheon Songdo Half Marathon

Songdo, Incheon, South Korea, 9/24/17

Men
1. Paul Kipkorir (Kenya) - 1:02:32
2. Seifu Abdiwak (Ethiopia) - 1:02:58
3. Timothy Kattam (Kenya) - 1:03:24 - PB
4. Mohammed Ziani (Morocco) - 1:03:31
5. Isaac Korir (Bahrain) - 1:04:04
6. Adunga Bikila (Ethiopia) - 1:04:24
7. Reuben Narry (Kenya) - 1:04:29 - PB
8. Namakoe Nkhasi (Lesotho) - 1:04:42
9. Taher Belkorchi (Morocoo) - 1:04:52
10. Mulue Andom Barhe (Eritrea) - 1:05:28
-----
13. Tomoki Oda (Japan/Waseda Univ.) - 1:07:16
22. Yoshiki Koizumi (Japan/Raffine) - 1:10:53

Women
1. Sook-Jeong Kim (South Korea) - 1:18:08

text and photos © 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Metts said…
Was registered for the 10K but decided not to run it or even show up this morning. Ran later in the day. If I had known you were going to be there I would have gone just to meet you. Maybe some other time in Tokyo.
September 24, 2017 at 6:28 PM
Brett Larner said…
My first time in mainland Korea. A nice weekend.
September 25, 2017 at 5:33 PM
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

Weekend Track Roundup

The two-day Hyogo Relay Carnival was the biggest meet of the weekend on the Japanese calendar. Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) kicked off her 2nd academic year with a 31:48.11 win in the GP women's 10000 m, beating Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) by 4 seconds. Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) had a tighter win in the GP men's 10000 m, 27:58.01 to 27:58.35 over Jonson Mugeni (Asia Univ.). Kenyans also dominated the men's B and C-heats, Nelson Mandela (Obirin Univ.) taking the B-heat by 0.06 over Stephen Muthini (Soka Univ.) in 28:05.37 and Patrick Wambui (NTT Nishi Nihon) the C-heat in 28:14.83. Top Japanese marks across the four races were 32:24.50 by Sora Shinozakura (Panasonic), 28:11.30 by Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon), 28:41.68 by Masashi Nonaka (Toyota), and 28:42.38 by former Rikkyo University head coach Yuichiro Ueno (Hiramatsu Byoin). The GP women's 3000 mSC might have been the best race of the meet, both Miu Saito (Nittai Univ.) and Mana
Post a Comment
Read more