Sapporo Half Marathon

The Sapporo International Half Marathon (札幌国際ハーフマラソン大会, Sapporo Kokusai hāfumarason taikai) was an annual road running competition over the half marathon distance 21.0975 kilometres (13.1094 mi) which took place each July in Sapporo, Japan.

Sapporo Half Marathon
The streets of the city of Sapporo
DateJuly
LocationSapporo, Japan
Event typeRoad
DistanceHalf marathon
Established1958

First held in 1958, the race began as a full marathon competition for men under the moniker of the Hokkai Times Marathon. This lasted until 1973, as it was replaced with a shorter race of 30 km in 1974 and became known as the Times 30K. A women's programme was introduced in 1981, at which point the men's 30 km race was complemented with a women's 20 km. The women's race was slightly extend to the half marathon distance in 1986 and the men's race followed suit the following year. The road racing competition was known as the Sapporo Half Marathon from 1990 onwards.[1]

The race had a strictly looped course in the city of Sapporo which doubled back on itself, having Maruyama Stadium as the start and end point.[2] The competition was broadcast live on national television each year via Nihon TV.[3] The course was certified by AIMS and the Japanese Association of Athletics Federations.[4] The competition doubled up to act as the national selection race for the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.[5]

The Japanese Olympic marathon champion Mizuki Noguchi set a women's course record of 1:08:14 in 2006.[6] Kenya's Mekubo Mogusu is the only runner to finish the course in under an hour, with his men's course record set in 2007 standing at 59 minutes and 54 seconds.[7] Four athletes won the race on three separate occasions: Mogusu, Stephen Mayaka and Juma Ikangaa on the men's side, and Catherine Ndereba on the women's side.

Following the withdrawal of support from its traditional broadcaster, the race ceased to be held after the 2012 edition.[8] On 16 October 2019, the International Olympic Committee announced plans to re-locate the marathon and racewalking events of the Tokyo-based 2020 Summer Olympics to Sapporo due to heat concerns.[9] The plans were made official on 1 November 2019 after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike accepted the IOC's decision, despite her belief that the events should have remained in Tokyo.[10]


Past winners
Yuri Kanō won the women's race in 2008 and 2010.
Kenyan Catherine Ndereba has won the women's race a record three times

Key:   Course record
Distances:   Marathon   30 km   20 km

Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) Women's winner Time (h:m:s)
55th 2012  Martin Mathathi (KEN) 1:01:35  Mai Ito (JPN) 1:10:52
54th 2011  Cyrus Gichobi Njui (KEN) 1:01:47  Florence Kiplagat (KEN) 1:10:29
53rd 2010  Cyrus Gichobi Njui (KEN) 1:01:20  Yuri Kanō (JPN) 1:11:46
52nd 2009  Gedion Lekumok Ngatuny (KEN) 1:00:39  Yurika Nakamura (JPN) 1:09:20
51st 2008  Mekubo Mogusu (KEN) 1:00:52  Yuri Kanō (JPN) 1:08:57
50th 2007  Mekubo Mogusu (KEN) 59:54  Mizuki Noguchi (JPN) 1:08:22
49th 2006  Cyrus Gichobi Njui (KEN) 1:01:16  Mizuki Noguchi (JPN) 1:08:14
48th 2005  Mekubo Mogusu (KEN) 1:01:28  Catherine Ndereba (KEN) 1:09:24
47th 2004  James Mwangi Macharia (KEN) 1:01:28  Hiromi Ōminami (JPN) 1:08:45
46th 2003  John Kanyi (KEN) 1:02:08  Catherine Ndereba (KEN) 1:08:23
45th 2002  Samuel Kabiru (KEN) 1:01:11  Catherine Ndereba (KEN) 1:08:57
44th 2001  James Wainaina (KEN) 1:01:52  Lidia Șimon (ROM) 1:09:46
43rd 2000  Laban Kagika (KEN) 1:02:16  Naoko Takahashi (JPN) 1:09:10
42nd 1999  John Kanyi (KEN) 1:01:32  Lidia Șimon (ROM) 1:08:51
41st 1998  Erick Wainaina (KEN) 1:02:56  Ari Ichihashi (JPN) 1:11:45
40th 1997  Stephen Mayaka (KEN) 1:03:57  Ari Ichihashi (JPN) 1:11:03
39th 1996  Stephen Mayaka (KEN) 1:02:02  Kazumi Kanbayashi (JPN) 1:09:40
38th 1995  Stephen Mayaka (KEN) 1:01:43  Naomi Sakashita (JPN) 1:10:32
37th 1994  Tadesse Gebre (ETH) 1:04:29  Mari Tanigawa (JPN) 1:13:53
36th 1993  Luketz Swartbooi (NAM) 1:02:02  Olga Appell (MEX) 1:10:38
35th 1992  Kenjirō Jitsui (JPN) 1:02:59  Eriko Asai (JPN) 1:12:20
34th 1991  Hitoshi Saotome (JPN) 1:04:39  Lisa Weidenbach (USA) 1:13:50
33rd 1990  Juma Ikangaa (TAN) 1:03:56  Lisa Weidenbach (USA) 1:12:54
32nd 1989  Juma Ikangaa (TAN) 1:02:56  Lisa Martin (AUS) 1:12:25
31st 1988  Juma Ikangaa (TAN) 1:03:22  Kumi Araki (JPN) 1:13:30
30th 1987  Toshihiro Shibutani (JPN) 1:05:40  Eriko Asai (JPN) 1:14:50
29th 1986  Kazuya Nishimoto (JPN) 1:33:08  Kumi Araki (JPN) 1:15:31
28th 1985  Isamu Sennai (JPN) 1:31:32  Mami Fukao (JPN) 1:10:30
27th 1984  Isamu Sennai (JPN) 1:35:28  Yōko Higuchi (JPN) 1:15:22
26th 1983  Kazuya Nishimoto (JPN) 1:32:57  Naomi Kurahashi (JPN) 1:11:50
25th 1982  Yūji Mori (JPN) 1:37:10  Rumiko Kaneko (JPN) 1:14:48
24th 1981  Tetsuji Iwase (JPN) 1:33:35  Akemi Masuda (JPN) 1:11:40
23rd 1980  Yutaka Taketomi (JPN) 1:34:15 Not held
22nd 1979  Yutaka Taketomi (JPN) 1:34:22
21st 1978  Yasunori Hamada (JPN) 1:32:48
20th 1977  Yoshinobu Kitayama (JPN) 1:35:23
19th 1976  Noriyasu Mizukami (JPN) 1:34:54
18th 1975  Mineteru Sakamoto (JPN) 1:36:52
17th 1974  Kimio Ōtsuka (JPN) 1:40:55,6
16th 1973  Noriyasu Mizukami (JPN) 2:23:16,8
15th 1972  Ryōsuke Matsuoka (JPN) 2:23:42,0
14th 1971  Kimio Ōtsuka (JPN) 2:20:46,4
13th 1970  Yoshirō Mifune (JPN) 2:22:49,2
12th 1969  Ryōichi Masuda (JPN) 2:23:04,0
11th 1968  Morio Shigematsu (JPN) 2:24:27,0
10th 1967  Kenji Kimihara (JPN) 2:20:16,4
9th 1966  Morio Shigematsu (JPN) 2:30:06,2
8th 1965  Yoshikazu Funasako (JPN) 2:48:52,2
7th 1964  Kenji Kimihara (JPN) 2:17:12
6th 1963  Osamu Kawabata (JPN) 2:33:41
5th 1962  Yoshitaka Uchikawa (JPN) 2:31:38
4th 1961  Yoshiaki Kawashima (JPN) 2:47:56
3rd 1960  Yasuo Koshikawa (JPN) 2:34:40
2nd 1959  Yoshikazu Igarashi (JPN) 2:38:49
1st 1958  Masao Suzuki (JPN) 2:47:31

References
  1. Ota, Shigenobu & Nakamura, Ken & Larner, Brett (2010-07-05). Sapporo Half Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2010-07-23.
  2. Course Map (in Japanese). Sapporo Television Broadcasting. Retrieved on 2010-07-23.
  3. Highlights (in Japanese). Sapporo Television Broadcasting. Retrieved on 2010-07-23.
  4. Race Summary (in Japanese). Sapporo Television Broadcasting. Retrieved on 2010-07-23.
  5. Nakamura, Ken (2010-07-04). Njui and Kano take Sapporo Half Marathon titles. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-07-23.
  6. Nakamura, Ken (2006-07-09). Noguchi wins in Sapporo as Ndereba's challenge never materializes. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-07-23.
  7. Nakamura, Ken (2007-07-08). Noguchi (1:08:22) and Mogusu (59:54) victors in Sapporo. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-07-23.
  8. Notification of the Termination of the Sapporo International Half Marathon. Japan Running News (2012-12-20). Retrieved on 2015-01-05.
  9. "IOC planning to move Tokyo Olympic marathon north to Sapporo in bid to avoid heat". The Japan Times Online. 2019-10-16. ISSN 0447-5763. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  10. Denyer, Simon; Kashiwagi, Akiko (1 November 2019). "Cool runnings: After heated dispute, Tokyo agrees to shift Olympic marathons to more clement climes". washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
List of winners
  • Winner list (in Japanese). Sapporo Television Broadcasting. Retrieved on 2010-07-23.

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