Two in a row for Omare

Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon
Sun 2 February 2025

Dolphine Nyaboke Omare started the Kagawa Marugame International Half Maratthon at a fast pace and broke her own course record with a time of 1:06:05, achieving a second consecutive victory.

Among Japanese athletes, Rika Kaseda ran the fourth fastest Japanese time in history with a time of 1:07:53.

The rain that had been falling since the night before stopped and the 77th Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon was held under perfect conditions.

This year as well, many invited athletes, including those from abroad, entered and gave a moving performance with their magnificent running.

In the men’s race, Alexander Mutiso started the race at a fast pace, separating from the group and achieving a new course record of 59:16, winning just as he did two years prior.

Among Japanese athletes, Tomoki Ota, who represented Japan at the Paris Olympics, achieved a new Japanese record with 59:27, placing third. Beating the former record by 33 seconds, he was the first Japanese athlete to achieve a time under one hour. Kotaro Shinohara of Komazawa University finished in fourth place and set a new Japanese student record at 59:30.

Shinsaku Kudo (Waseda University), who was running in the jointly held Men’s All Japan University Half Marathon Championships, ran the fourth fastest Japanese time ever, winning the universities race with a time of 1 hour and 6 seconds.

8,685 runners from the general public participated, and about 85,000 people were along the streets, cheering and applauding for the runners aiming to complete the race or achieve a personal best.