Japanese Depth at the Half Marathon Distance

Pretty crazy results over the weekend at a half marathon in Japan. Alistair Cragg, a professional runner from Ireland primarily training in the US, ran 63:39 and was 65th in the race as 90 men broke 65:00. Unbelievable. If only the Japanese could translate those times at the 10k or full marathon distances.

Just look how deep the field was:

Men
1. Matthew Kisorio (Kenya) - 1:00:02
2. Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Team Fujitsu) - 1:01:02 - PB
3. Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:03
4. Benjamin Gandu (Kenya/Nihon Univ.) - 1:01:06 - PB
5. Yusuke Takabayashi (Team Toyota) - 1:01:31 - PB
6. Arata Fujiwara (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 1:01:34 - PB
7. Shinobu Kubota (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:38 - PB
8. Shota Yamaguchi (Team Fujitsu) - 1:01:42 - PB
9. Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) - 1:01:44 - PB
10. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya) - 1:01:44
-----
22. Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei) - 1:01:58 - PB
27. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) - 1:02:18 - PB
29. Rachid Kisri (Morocco) - 1:02:21
54. Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine) - 1:03:14
65. Alistair Cragg (Ireland) - 1:03:39

Ben Z wrote:Pretty crazy results over the weekend at a half marathon in Japan. Alistair Cragg, a professional runner from Ireland primarily training in the US, ran 63:39 and was 65th in the race as 90 men broke 65:00. Unbelievable. If only the Japanese could translate those times at the 10k or full marathon distances.

Just look how deep the field was:

Men
1. Matthew Kisorio (Kenya) - 1:00:02
2. Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Team Fujitsu) - 1:01:02 - PB
3. Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:03
4. Benjamin Gandu (Kenya/Nihon Univ.) - 1:01:06 - PB
5. Yusuke Takabayashi (Team Toyota) - 1:01:31 - PB
6. Arata Fujiwara (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 1:01:34 - PB
7. Shinobu Kubota (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:38 - PB
8. Shota Yamaguchi (Team Fujitsu) - 1:01:42 - PB
9. Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) - 1:01:44 - PB
10. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya) - 1:01:44
-----
22. Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei) - 1:01:58 - PB
27. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) - 1:02:18 - PB
29. Rachid Kisri (Morocco) - 1:02:21
54. Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine) - 1:03:14
65. Alistair Cragg (Ireland) - 1:03:39

Dang!!! Those are some fast times!!

And let's hope they aren't aided with "herbal" supplements like those put up by the Chinese a few years ago. There have not been Japanese runners on the world international scene of any consequence in years.

I seem to remember a story a couple of years ago, maybe on CBS Sunday Morning, where some Kenyans are training in Japan, now, and the Japanese are learning from them.

ounce wrote:I seem to remember a story a couple of years ago, maybe on CBS Sunday Morning, where some Kenyans are training in Japan, now, and the Japanese are learning from them.

I have heard that as well. Let's hope it is all positive.

Looking at the results, it seems there are a lot of Kenyans in there (a la Sammy Wanjiru - kenyan training in Japan). But the more interesting question to me is: How does 1 race get so many of the top runners to show up?

I don't think its far-fetched to say that 50 Americans could break 1:05 (surely a high percentage of the 135 OTQers could). They would never, however, all be at the same race. Most "big" half marathons are lucky to draw 2 or 3 of the elites.

Are there just fewer races in Japan?

I wonder what the purse was?

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:And let's hope they aren't aided with "herbal" supplements like those put up by the Chinese a few years ago. There have not been Japanese runners on the world international scene of any consequence in years.

Memorial weekend, 2003, I was in a soccer tournament with 3 games a day under Texas heat. Our goalie, a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, gave each of us one piece of this herbal after game two. In game 3, I started running the field, not because of my dribbling tricks, but only I was the only one who could run.

7.5 years after, I was still feeling the effect and fluted my one and only sub 3.
Now I think about it, the herbal effect must be expiring.

Dave-O wrote:Looking at the results, it seems there are a lot of Kenyans in there (a la Sammy Wanjiru - kenyan training in Japan). But the more interesting question to me is: How does 1 race get so many of the top runners to show up?

I don't think its far-fetched to say that 50 Americans could break 1:05 (surely a high percentage of the 135 OTQers could). They would never, however, all be at the same race. Most "big" half marathons are lucky to draw 2 or 3 of the elites.

Are there just fewer races in Japan?

I wouldn't say there are a lot of Kenyans, but certainly a handful.

So let's say 75 of the 90 are actually Japanese. And hypothetically half (though it's probably a lot less) actually showed up and ran this race. So that means 150 Japanese are capable of running 1:05 or faster. Japan has a total population of 127M.

Say you are right and 50 of the US men could run 1:05 or faster. The US has a population of 600+M.

So if we compare apples to apples Japan is killing us in the depth at this distance. Something on the magnitude of 12:1 using this math.

But then there is that country in eastern Africa...

Ben Z wrote:

Dave-O wrote:Looking at the results, it seems there are a lot of Kenyans in there (a la Sammy Wanjiru - kenyan training in Japan). But the more interesting question to me is: How does 1 race get so many of the top runners to show up?

I don't think its far-fetched to say that 50 Americans could break 1:05 (surely a high percentage of the 135 OTQers could). They would never, however, all be at the same race. Most "big" half marathons are lucky to draw 2 or 3 of the elites.

Are there just fewer races in Japan?

The US has a population of 600+M.

So about 1 out 2 in the US is illegal immigrant?

Ben Z wrote:

Dave-O wrote:Looking at the results, it seems there are a lot of Kenyans in there (a la Sammy Wanjiru - kenyan training in Japan). But the more interesting question to me is: How does 1 race get so many of the top runners to show up?

I don't think its far-fetched to say that 50 Americans could break 1:05 (surely a high percentage of the 135 OTQers could). They would never, however, all be at the same race. Most "big" half marathons are lucky to draw 2 or 3 of the elites.

Are there just fewer races in Japan?

I wouldn't say there are a lot of Kenyans, but certainly a handful.

So let's say 75 of the 90 are actually Japanese. And hypothetically half (though it's probably a lot less) actually showed up and ran this race. So that means 150 Japanese are capable of running 1:05 or faster. Japan has a total population of 127M.

Say you are right and 50 of the US men could run 1:05 or faster. The US has a population of 600+M.

So if we compare apples to apples Japan is killing us in the depth at this distance. Something on the magnitude of 12:1 using this math.

But then there is that country in eastern Africa...

I think you may need to recheck your census data.

Ok fine, 6:1.

Would have lost a bet on that one.