The Sanyo Women's Half Marathon, also known as the Sanyo Women's Road Race ( ja, 山陽女子ロードレース), is an annual

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ...

competition for women held in December in Okayama, Japan. It features both a

10K run 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

and

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

race (21.1 km/13.1 miles).

Sanyo Shimbun The is a Japanese language daily newspaper published by . The company was founded in 1879. The newspaper is based in Okayama City, Japan. The newspaper covers national and international news stories and also news from Okayama and neighboring pr ...

, a daily newspaper, is the title sponsor for the event. The day's events previously included an inter-

prefectural A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

competition (1985 to 1999) and a junior 3 km race in the 1990s. The half marathon race attracts top level Japanese and Japan-based foreign runners, as well as a smaller number of other international runners. The race is occasionally used as the Japanese women's selection race for the

IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The World Athletics Half Marathon Championships is a biennial international half marathon competition organised by World Athletics. The competition was launched as the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1992 and held annually until 2010. It ...

.Mulkeen, Jon (2013-12-24)
Chepyego smashes course record in Okayama
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-02-23. Japanese entrants in both events are mostly collegiate athletes or members of corporate running teams. The course starts and finishes at

Kanko Stadium The , known from 2010 to February 2015 as , and before that as is a multi-purpose stadium in Okayama, Japan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and athletics events. It is the home field of Fagiano Okayama, and used for some rugby ...

in the centre of Okayama city. The half marathon is known as the Yuko Arimori Cup, in honour of the two-time Olympic medallist in the marathon, who was born in the city. The 10K is referred to as the

Kinue Hitomi was a Japanese track and field athlete. She was the world record holder in several events in the 1920s – 1930s and was the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic medal. She was also the first woman to represent Japan at the Olympics. Biograp ...

Cup in respect of the Okayama-born athlete who won Japan's first ever women's Olympic medal. Typically, the half marathon features about 100 entries and the 10K attracts around 200 runners. The 2011 edition had a record high of 366 entrants into the top level races. The course record for the half marathon is held by Sally Kaptich Chepyego with her time of 1:08:17 hours set in 2015 – the second time she had broken the record. The 10K record of 31:54 minutes was set in 2007 by

Tiki Gelana Erba Tiki Gelana ( am, ኧርባ ቲኪ ገላና; born 22 October 1987) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. Her personal best of 2:18:58 had been the Ethiopian national record for the event from 2012 ...

. Historically, the winners of both races have been Japanese. There were several Chinese winners in the 1990s and since 2000 Kenyan women based in Japan have increasingly reached the top of the podium.

Yukiko Akaba is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres, half marathon and marathon events. Career She won the silver medal in half marathon at the 1999 Summer Universiade. At the 2001 Summer Universiade she finished eighth in ...

is the only runner to win consecutive half marathon titles. Kenyans Chepyego and Evelyn Kimwei and Japan's Mizuki Noguchi (the 2004 Olympic marathon champion) are the only other women to win the race twice.Shigenobu Ota et al. (2013-12-27)
Sanyo Women's Half Marathon
Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2014-02-22.

Past winners

Key:

Half marathon

10K run

References

{{reflist ;List of winners *Shigenobu Ota et al. (2013-12-27)
Sanyo Women's Half Marathon
Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2014-02-22. Road running competitions in Japan Half marathons 10K runs Recurring sporting events established in 1982 Sport in Okayama Women's athletics competitions