Yuya Yoshida went into Sunday's Twin Cities Marathon with a plan to run a relaxed first half, then surge ahead and win it in the rolling hills along the final stretch. Mission accomplished.
Yoshida, a 25-year-old runner from Japan, pulled up on then-leader Wilfred Kimitei — who had been at the front since the start — about 21 miles into the race. He gave Kimtei several peeks as he passed, then kept a close eye on his watch as he steadily cruised to the finish line.
He made it look easy, but said it wasn't.
"The hills were tougher than I expected in the second half," Yoshida said, using a translator app on his phone to communicate.
Yoshida finished in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 28 seconds in his first time at this event, offering fist bumps at the finish line. He transitioned to post-race seamlessly, seemingly unaffected by the speed or the mileage.
Jessica Watychowicz took an approach similar to Yoshida — including a dramatic late-race pass — and was the top women's finisher in 2:33:09. There were 9,000 runners registered for the 40th anniversary of the race. Temperatures were in the low-50s early in the morning at the starting line in Minneapolis but were in the low 70s by early afternoon.
Yoshida, of Higashimatsuyama in Saitama Prefecture, has made a quick impact in the sport. His first marathon — a 2:08:30 finish at Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on the island of Kyushu — was the second-fastest debut all-time for a Japanese man.
Daniel Mesfun struggled with a cramp about 18 miles into the race, he said, but powered through and placed second in 2:13:35. Kimitei, who is new to this distance, finished third. He was with a pack that included Mesfun in the early miles, but shed the other racers by Mile 10. He maintained a significant lead until Yoshida made his move.
