Comedian Uno Kentaro finishes first among celebs in Tokyo Marathon

Image from: Sankei Sports

The 2012 Tokyo Marathon took place on Sunday. Kenya’s Michael Kipyego won the race with a time of 2:07:37, beating Japan’s Fujiwara Arata (2:07:48) and Uganda’s Stephen Kiprotich (2:07:50). Last year’s winner, Hailu Mekonnen from Ethiopia, finished 4th with a time of 2:08:17.

As always, many Japanese celebrities also participated in the race. Comedian Uno Kentaro, of the duo Genkis, finished fastest among them, with an impressive time of 2:38:19. However, he failed to top his personal best of 2:37:05 (achieved at the Osaka Marathon last fall). Uno had been hoping to beat comedian Neko Hiroshi’s 2011 time of 2:30:26, which set the all-time record for a Japanese celebrity in the Tokyo Marathon.

Talento Nishitani Ayako finished the race in 3:15:50, setting a new record for a female Japanese celebrity.

AKB48’s Akimoto Sayaka ran the marathon for her second year in a row. Last year, her time was 6:50:06, but she improved by more than an hour to finish the race in 5:34:13.

Yahoo! SportsNavi has a list of most of the celebrities who ran in this year’s marathon:

• Uno Kentaro – comedian (Genkis) – 2:38:19
• Mori Wataru – actor – 3:02:25
• Nishitani Ayako –  talento – 3:15:50
• Kubota Tomoko – TBS announcer – 3:55:21
• Higashikokubaru Hideo – politician, talento – 4:07:14
• Sakurai Katsunobu – politician – 4:09:53
• Yamada Rena – talento – 4:16:55
• Abe Yuji – TV reporter – 4:23:41
• Araki Megumi – former race queen – 4:39:38
• Mizukoshi Yuka – singer – 4:42:19
• Utahara Nao – talento – 4:55:53
• Asari Nozomi – Tokyo FM announcer – 4:58:13
• Shiraishi Miki – talento – 4:58:18
• Gonohe Miki – Nippon Broadcasting System announcer – 5:10:06
• Ernesto Hoost – former kickboxer – 5:16:46
• Murakami Kenji – comedian (Fruits Punch) – 5:23:42
• Miura Asami – NTV announcer – 5:24:14
• Yoshimatsu Ikumi – Miss Japan International 2012 – 5:26:55
• Shaku Emiko – esthetician – 5:28:31
• Akimoto Sayaka – AKB48 member – 5:34:13
• Kasuga Toshiaki – comedian (Audrey) – 5:44:50
• Aoki Ai – synchronized swimming coach, talento – 5:54:16
• Tomori Arata – doctor, talento – 6:00:35
• Rola Chen – talento – 6:03:53
• Papala Kawai – musician – 6:16:16
• Tsukamoto Taishi – soccer player – 6:30:30
• Inose Naoki – politician, writer – 6:40:29
• Sugiyama Hiroyuki – comedian (Wagaya) – (over the 7-hour limit)
• Adachi Rika – talento – (over the 7-hour limit)
• Takaoka Yumiko – model, talento – (over the 7-hour limit)

Sources:
Sankei Sports
Sankei Sports
Sports Hochi
Yahoo! SportsNavi