Skip to main content

Kobayashi Runs PB to Win Hokuren 3000m

by Brett Larner

As expected, women`s 1500 m national record holder Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) delivered the biggest result of the Hokuren Distance Challenge Sapporo meet, winning the 3000 m in a PB of 8:51.85. Kobayashi and Ann Karindi (Team Yutaka Giken) simply outclassed the rest of the field, quickly opening a large gap and running together until Kobayashi`s stronger kick left her Kenyan competitor behind. Karindi finished in 8:52.24, a PB of nearly 10 seconds; 3rd place finisher Mariko Nakao (Team OKI) was far behind in 9:19.95.

Kobayashi`s time was the 3rd fastest in the world so far this year and not far off the Japanese national record of 8:44.40 held by Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal). In April she ran a 5000 m PB of 15:07.37 to become the only Japanese woman thus far to meet the Beijing Olympics A-standard in the 5000 m. She has thus far failed to meet the Olympic B-standard in the 1500 m after setting the national record of 4:07.86 in Sept., 2006 but is expected to try again at the National Track and Field Championships later this month.

Top finishers in each event are listed below. For complete results from the Sapporo meet click here.

Men`s 1500 m

  1. Takeshi Arisumi (Team Nishitetsu) - 3:49.27
  2. Naoya Ban (Team NTN) - 3:50.34
  3. Kosuke Murasashi (Team YKK) - 3:50.81

Women`s 1500 m

  1. Saori Yamashita (Team Hokuren) - 4:16.46
  2. Minami Nakaarai (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 4:21.50
  3. Maki Arai (Team Uniqlo) - 4:22.27

Women`s 3000 m

  1. Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 8:51.85 (PB)
  2. Ann Karindi (Team Yutaka Giken) - 8:52.24 (PB)
  3. Mariko Nakao (Team Oki) - 9:19.95

Men`s 3000 m SC

  1. Tomoyoshi Umegae (Team NTN) - 8:47.16
  2. Michinori Takano (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 8:49.11
  3. Takayuki Matsuura (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 8:50.18

Women`s 3000 m SC

  1. Kazuka Wakatsuki (Team Toto) - 9:59.57
  2. Maiko Yamaguchi (Team Yamada Denki) - 10:28.61
  3. Yuka Ohara (Team Shimamura) - 10:35.51

Men`s 5000 m A-Group

  1. Yuki Nakamura (Team Kanebo) - 13:44.69
  2. Terukazu Omori (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 13:45.12
  3. Keita Akiba (Team Komori) - 13:45.30

Women`s 5000 m

  1. Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz) - 16:00.30
  2. Miho Notagashira (Team Wacoal) - 16:07.18
  3. Yuka Tokuda (Team Yamada Denki) - 16:14.43

Men`s 5000 m B-Group

  1. Teruto Ozaki (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 14:03.47
  2. Kiyotaka Shimamura (Team S&B) - 14:05.04
  3. Akihiko Tsumurai (Team Mazda) - 14:06.74

Men`s 5000 m Walk

  1. Koichiro Morioka (Team Fujitsu) - 19:28.26
  2. Yuki Yamasaki (Hasegawa AC) - 20:04.21
  3. Ken Akashi (Team Alsok) - 20:07.72

Women`s 5000 m Walk

  1. Masumi Fuchise (Ryukoku Univ.) - 22:11.11
  2. Mayumi Kawasaki (Team Ebisawa Seisakujo) - 22:33.69

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin
Post a Comment
Read more

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi
Post a Comment
Read more

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and
Post a Comment
Read more