Skip to main content

National Corporate Track and Field Championships - Results (updated)

by Brett Larner

The 56th annual National Corporate Track and Field Championships took place Sept. 26-28 in Yamagata Prefecture, the last major meet before the fall ekiden season. The biggest result of the distance events was 35 year old women's steeplechase national record holder Minori Hayakari's solo run to a meet record 9:56.37. Hayakari's record-setting run capped a fantastic season which saw her win yet another national championship, set a new national record of 9:33.63, and run in her first Olympic Games.

Another big moment in the championships came with the surprise appearance by Megumi Kinukawa in the women's 5000 m. Kinukawa, who ran the 10000 m at the 2007 World Championships as a high school senior, was expected to be multiple national record holder Kayoko Fukushi's successor as the dominant runner of her generation but has been out of competition since last winter after contracting a virus which caused a continuous series of injuries and secondary illnesses. Her 10th place result was unremarkable in itself, but the simple fact of her participation, her first race so far this year, is a positive sign that she may be on the mend from what was thought to be a career-ending crisis.

Notable men's results included 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi's win in the 1500 m against a cast of Japan's best 1500 m specialists just two days after running 27:37.59 to finish 2nd in the 10000 m. The man who beat him in the 10000 m, Josephat Ndambiri, scored a double by winning the 5000 m the next day. The top Japanese runners in the men's 5000 m and 10000 m, Naoki Okamoto and Satoru Kitamura, were both rookie runners appearing in their first Corporate Championships. National record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu was absent from the steeplechase, but the race featured a duel between Jun Shinoto and Ryuta Komano, two rookie corporate runners who had some of the most impressive university runs in recent years at this year's Hakone Ekiden.

In the women's races, Philes Ongori, who will be competing for Kenya at next month's World Half Marathon Championships, showed her range by edging out Kazuka Wakatsuki to win the 1500 m. Ongori was also 3rd in the 10000 m behind her World Half teammate-to-be Julia Mombi and fellow Kenyan Evelyn Wamboi, who won in 31:14.08. A third member of the Kenyan World Half team, Danielle Filomena Cheyech, was 14th in a slow 5000 m race, running 15:52.56. 40 year old marathoner Harumi Hiroyama was a suprising 4th in both the 1500 m and 5000 m, while two of the youngest women in the field, Tomomi Yuda and 2008 Hokkaido Marathon winner Yukari Sahaku, were last in the 5000 m and 10000 m respectively. Several top women had tough days, with Olympic marathoner Yurika Nakamura 9th in the 5000 m, multiple national record holder Kayoko Fukushi 9th in the 10000 m after reportedly coming down with a cold, and two-time World Championships marathoner Yumiko Hara was 16th in the 10000 m.

A list of top finishers in the distance events follows.

Men’s 1500 m – Sept. 28
1. Martin Mathathi (Team Suzuki): 3:45.90
2. Yasuhiro Tago (Team Chugoku Denryoku): 3:46.32
3. Fumikazu Kobayashi (Team NTN): 3:47.18
4. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko): 3:47.61
5. Hiroshi Ino (Team Fujitsu): 3:49.19
6. Takahiko Onishi (Team NTN): 3:49.83
7. Yoshinori Murakami (Team Fujitsu): 3:50.75
8. Tomohiro Miyamoto (Team Chudenko): 3:50.99
9. Naoto Morimoto (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko): 3:52.88
10. Kenji Shimizu (Team Yakult): 3:53.27

Men’s Junior 1500 m – Sept. 28
1. Daichi Tsuge (Team Suzuki): 3:53.66
2. Teruo Taneno (Team Yasukawa Denki): 3:55.66
3. Tsuyoshi Hatori (Team Suzuki): 3:56.72
4. Kentaro Yamauchi (Team NTN): 3:58.66
5. Yuki Nozu (Team Broad): 4:00.63
6. Genyu Komori (Team Nissin Seiko): 4:04:02
7. Ryuji Ushiro (Team Kanebo): 4:05.86
8. Masaya Takakura (Team Sumitomo Denko): 4:13.85
9. Yuta Izumi (Team Sumitomo Denko): 4:17.19
10. Yusuke Nishikubo (Team Shinnitetsu Hirohata): 4:32.10

Men’s 3000 m Steeplechase – Sept. 28
1. Hiroyoshi Umegao (Team NTN): 8:43.73
2. Tomohiro Nakagawa (Team Suzuki): 8:44.49
3. Ryuta Komano (Team JR Higashi Nihon): 8:46.19
4. Hidenobu Koshikawa (Team Fujitsu): 8:46.30
5. Tatsunori Shinoura (Team S&B): 8:47.31
6. Satoshi Kato (Team Toyota Jidosha): 8:50.54
7. Takayuki Matsuura (Team Otsuka Seiyaku): 8:53.52
8. Masayoshi Kuroda (Team Chugoku Denryoku): 8:58.69
9. Atsushi Shimada (Team Honda Tochigi): 8:59.55
10. Michinori Takano (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko): 9:02.55
.....
17. Jun Shinoto (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko): 9:47.27

Men’s 5000 m – Sept. 27
1. Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori): 13:41.95
2. Asefa Gilma (Team Subaru): 13:45.38
3. Hailu Mekonen (Team Honda): 13:47.16
4. Naoki Okamoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku): 13:47.54
5. Daisuke Matsufuji (Team Kanebo): 13:50.43
6. Micah Njell (Team Toyota Boshoku): 13:51.21
7. Yoshinori Suzuki (Team Fujitsu): 13:51.34
8. Yuki Matsuoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku): 13:52.07
9. Yoshinori Murakami (Team Fujitsu): 13:54.49
10. Hillary Chenonge (Team Aisan): 13:55.11

Men’s Junior 5000 m – Sept. 27
1. Teruo Taneno (Team Yasukawa Denki): 14:16.33
2. Daichi Matsumura (Team Mitsubishi Nagasaki): 14:22.90
3. Kenji Miyazaki (Team Asahi Kasei): 14:23.38
4. Hayato Ideue (Team Toyota Kyushu): 14:23.13
5. Takuya Sakai (Team Toyota Kyushu): 14:25.65
6. Ryo Itamoto (Team Mitsubishi Nagasaki): 14:29.48
7. Tsuyoshi Hattori (Team Suzuki): 14:36.24
8. Kazuki Yamamoto (Team Chuo Hatsujo): 14:38.72
9. Daichi Tsuge (Team Suzuki): 14:41.17
10. Ryuji Ushiro (Team Kanebo): 14:45.05

Men’s 10000 m – Sept. 26
1. Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori): 27:35.35
2. Martin Mathathi (Team Suzuki): 27:37.59
3. Joseph Gitau (Team JFE Steel): 27:58.09
4. Nicholas Makau (Team JAL Ground Service): 27:59.03
5. Martin Muklule (Team Toyota Jidosha): 28:06.08
6. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin): 28:12.46
7. Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei): 28:21.02
8. Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko): 28:25.23
9. Keita Akiba (Team Komori): 28:27.68
10. Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu): 28:35.37
.....
11. Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei): 28:39.27
19. Hideaki Date (Team Chugoku Denryoku): 28:45.09
23. Atsushi Fujita (Team Fujitsu): 28:46.03
26. Makoto Tobimatsu (Team Yasukawa Denki): 28:54.60
DNF: Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin)

Women’s 1500 m – Sept. 28
1. Philes Ongori (Team Hokuren): 4:17.11
2. Kazuka Wakatsuki (Team Toto): 4:18.37
3. Yukari So (Team Asahi Kasei): 4:20.69
4. Harumi Hiroyama (Team Shiseido): 4:21.66
5. Saori Yamashita (Team Hokuren): 4:21.84
6. Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic): 4:22.15
7. Misako Suguro (Team Shiseido): 4:22.70
8. Misaki Onishi (Team Sekisui Kagaku): 4:22.80
9. Chise Hayakawa (Team Acom): 4:22.82
10. Sanae Morita (Team Toto): 4:24.35

Women’s Junior 3000 m – Sept. 27
1. Dorika Obare (Team Hitachi): 9:06.48
2. Yuki Numata (Team Shimamura): 9:22.32
3. Kaoru Nagao (Team Aruze): 9:22.83
4. Yukie Nagata (Team Toyota Jidoshoki): 9:23.02
5. Yuka Takashima (Team Denso): 9:24.74
6. Fumiko Hashimoto (Team Shimamura): 9:25.83
7. Makiko Miyahara (Team Nihon ChemiCon): 9:26.12
8. Aya Nagata (Team Toyota Jidoshoki): 9:27.42
9. Manami Kamitanida (Team Hitachi): 9:27.86
10. Yukako Ito (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo): 9:28.10

Women’s 3000 m Steeplechase – Sept. 28
1. Minori Hayakari (Kyoto Koka AC): 9:56.37 – meet record
2. Mayu Hitomi (Team Sekisui Kagaku): 10:35.88
3. Ayana Tabira (Team Daihatsu): 10:38.66
4. Hitomi Takenaga (Team Deodeo): 11:13.23

Women’s 5000 m – Sept. 27
1. Winfrieda Kaban (Team Toyota Jidoshoki): 15:42.13
2. Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku): 15:43.98
3. Mizuho Nasukawa (Team Aruze): 15:45.20
4. Harumi Hiroyama (Team Shiseido): 15:45.79
5. Chiaki Takagi (Team Starts): 15:46.59
6. Pauline Wanguru (Team Kyudenko): 15:48.22
7. Megumi Seike (Team Sysmex): 15:48.60
8. Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daichi Seimei): 15:48.80
9. Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya): 15:49.25
10. Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno): 15:49.77
.....
14. Danielle Flomena Cheyech (Team Uniqlo): 15:52.56
27. Tomomi Yuda (Team Wacoal): 16:38.72

Women’s 10000 m – Sept. 26
1. Evelyn Wamboi (Team Yutaka Giken): 31:14.08
2. Julia Mombi (Team Aruze): 31:42.92
3. Philes Ongori (Team Hokuren): 31:58.21
4. Hiromi Ominami (Team Toyota Shattai): 32:14.10
5. Madoka Ogi (Team Juhachi Ginko): 32:28.37
6. Aya Manome (Team Shimamura): 32:46.90
7. Haruka Obara (Team Shimamura): 32:54.51
8. Remi Nakazato (Team Daihatsu): 32:55.61
9. Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal): 32:56.21
10. Yuko Machida (Team Nihon ChemiCon): 32:58.23
.....
16. Yumiko Hara (Team Kyocera): 33:02.27
33. Yukari Sahaku (Team Aruze): 35:45.99

For complete results including sprints, middle distances and field events, click here.

© 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Brett Larner said…
I updated the results to include the top 10 except for the women's steeplechase which only had 4 starters.

I also added a paragraph about Megumi Kinukawa running in the 5000 m, something I missed the first time I went through the results.

Most-Read This Week

Identical Triplets Run Final Prefectural High School Champs 5000 m Together

A set of identical triplets made the final in the Niigata Prefecture High School Championships 5000 m, their last big showdown with each other. All three talked about the way they were looking at the big race at Niigata's Denka Big Swan Stadium. The Sato triplets all ran track and field in elementary school in Nagaoka, but when they went to junior high school they all opted to play basketball instead. Their sister, also a twin, was the manager of the track and field team at Chuetsu H.S. and gave them tips on training like hill repeats and running on undulating roads in their neighborhood, and while focusing on basketball they coached themselves to become better runners. Five years later they are now in their final year of high school. Yuto Sato runs for Chuetsu H.S., while Hiroto Sato and Oto Sato opted for Nippon Bunri H.S. . It was the first, and last, time for them to all face each other in the same race at the prefectural level. All three live in school dorms, their family...

Japan Dominates Half Marathon - World University Games Day 6 Japanese Results

Japan didn't quite pull off a sweep of the men's and women's half marathon at the 2025 FISU World University Games , but it was pretty close. In the men's race Waseda University 's Shinsaku Kudo , the fastest man in the race with a best of 1:00:06 from Marugame this past February, led start to finish, keeping it around 62-flat pace before finishing in a WUG record 1:02:29. Turkey's Ramazan Bastug spent most of the race in a small chase pack with Ryuto Uehara (Koku Gakuin Univ.) and Kento Baba (Rikkyo Univ.) before dropping them both for silver in 1:02:35. Uehara was just behind in 1:02:39 for bronze, with Baba missing out on the medals in 1:02:44 for 4th. In the women's race China's Xiuzhen Ma had to deal with the Japanese trio of Makoto Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.), Mariya Noda (Daito Bunka Univ.) and Ayaka Maeda (Kansai Univ.). And she did, running a PB 1:12:48 for gold over Tsuchiya by 10 seconds. Noda scored the bronze medal in 1:13:16, with M...

Wanjiru Silver, Yanagita Bronze - World University Games Day 1-2 Japanese Results

The 2025 FISU World University Games started Monday in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany. In the Games' first final, the women's 10000 m, Daito Bunka University 's Sarah Wanjiru of Kenya shaved just over 6 seconds off her PB with a 31:41.80, but it wasn't enough for gold as Slovenian 5000 m and road 5 km and 10 km NR holder Klara Lukan dropped a 31:25.84 Games record and PB for the win. In the race for bronze Spain's Alicia Berzosa Martin outran Meijo University 1st-year Mei Hosomi by a second, 32:00.72 to 32:01.91. Ayaka Maeda (Kansai Univ.) and Wakana Hashimoto (Meijo Univ.) were far back in the field, Maeda running 33:13.83 for 15th and Hashimoto 33:49.84 for 19th. The 18-year-old Hosomi's time was good enough to crack the all-time Japanese U20 top 10 and put her 2nd in the world this year on the U20 lists. In qualifying rounds on the opening day, Shota Fuchigami (Waseda Univ.) and Ryosuke Takahashi (Hosei Univ.) took the top 2 spots in the men's 400 mH heats...