April 2019 Race Results

• The first parkrun in Japan took place on the 6th, at Futakotamagawa. 343 people enjoyed the nice weather and friendly atmosphere for a 5K run. About 30 Nambanners took part, including Carol Cunningham, who came up from Sydney for the event. It will be held there every Saturday at 8:00am.
• The Ome Takamizu Trail 15K was held on the 7th, a nice warm day. Alan Cannon navigated the course in 1:31:46, 8th in his AG. Derek Leong finished in 1:34, 23rd in his AG. Luigi Mondino ran the 30K (actually 25) in 3:32:26. Jim Ellinger and Ayano Onodera also took part.
• In England, Jon Morrell ran a PB of 2:53:34 at the Manchester Marathon. Congratulations!!
• At the Akabane Half Marathon on the 13th, Hartmut Pannen ran 1:49:25, finishing 2nd in the 60-64 AG.
• Sylvain Dufros ran the Kasumigaura Marathon on the 14th, recording a PB of 3:28:38. He credits Mara Yamauchi’s running clinic for helping him to prepare for it.
• On the same day, Yukari Murahara did the Momonosato 10K in 51:37 (little warmup for a 100k in two weeks).
• And Roselle Kingsbury was in Washington state for the Whidby Island Half Marathon where she enjoyed running the beautiful course in 1:46. And in merry olde England (although not so merry for Tim), Tim Willams ran the Brighton Marathon in an unknown time, but 3 minutes slower than last year.
• The granddaddy of all marathons, the Boston Marathon was held on April 15th, when it was a bit too warm and humid, unlike last year. Five Nambanners ran from Hopkinton to Copley Square: Francesco Frova 2:52:20, David Abbott 2:56:41, Tony Collins 3:24:04, Mika Tokairin 4:05:28 and Emily Furuichi 5:05:34. Congrats to Francesco and David—a sub-3 at Boston is a good run! In other Boston news, 70-year-old Gene Dykes ran 2:58:50, despite arriving a bit late and having to run hard for almost a mile to the start! 61-year-old Joan Benoit Samuelson (’84 Olympic Gold) ran 3:04 and 7-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson (43) ran 3:09:07 – all very impressive!
• Four Nambanners took the Nippori Toneri Liner to the Arakawa in Adachi-ku for the Adachi Goshiki Sakura Marathon on the 21st. In the Half, Padraig MacColgain led in 1:42:22, followed by Bob Poulson in 1:46:56 and Rachel Bleustein in 2:10 (PB). Gary Wilberforce ran to a 3rd place finish in the 10K in 34:22. It was hot! (24° and bright sun).
• Three others were up near Mt. Fuji for the Fuji 3, 4 and 5 Lakes Ultra Marathon. Raymond Wong took on the 5 Lakes (110k?), finishing in 12:30:37. Yukari Murahara ran the 4 Lakes (100km) in 12:40:02. Chika Kanai and Hiro Terada ran the 3 Lakes (71k), in 6:37:13 (4th place!) and 8:30:30. All awesome!
• At the Nagano Marathon, both Frank Harrison and Yasuo Hayakawa set new PBs of 3:03:36 and 3:26:25, respectively. Congratulations!
• Marie Gras ran the Shanghai Half Marathon in 1:38, with her husband pushing the baby stroller!
• The UTMF Ultra was on the 26th and 27th. Eric Lebrasseur took on the challenge of the 100 mile version, which was shortened (ha ha, not exactly the right word) to 155k due to snow!! Yuta Suda, Taras Koochin, Rie Onodera and Sachiyo Harima also gambarimashita.
• One of the world’s major races, the London Marathon, was held on the 28th. Six Nambanners were there, and enjoyed themselves immensely. Faith Geraghty 3:17:10, Rika Homma 3:27:31, Ray Poynter 3:42:01, Jon Holmes 5:20:41 and Roger Berman 5:40:35. Tamami Holmes was also there, but DNF’d (?).
• Kota Torii ran the Gyoda Half Marathon in a PB of 1:33:25.
• And over in Germany, Dennis Buechner ran the Hamburg Hapsa Half on a cold, wet day in 1:25:14, placing 49th out of 3,500.

Snow, rain, wind, more rain.

All we wish for in May is

Some pleasant weather!