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Fukushi 31:57 Course Record at Tamana 10 km

by Brett Larner

Fresh back from New Zealand where she was spotted at Rikuren's marathon training camp by JRN reader Jason Lawrence, 3000 m, 5000 m and half marathon national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) ran a solo 31:57 10 km course record at the 61st Kanaguri Hai Tamana Road Race in Kumamoto on Mar. 7 to become the first woman to break 32 minutes in the 25 years that the women's 10 km has been part of the event. Running alone and unpressured with her nearest competition nearly a minute behind, Fukushi's time would have put her 4th in last week's much-heralded World's Best 10 km in San Juan, Puerto Rico and is the latest sign that she is back to her best. Last year's winner Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) finished 2nd in 32:43, while Mika Okunaga (Team Kyudenko) was 3rd in 33:29 in a tuneup for next week's Nagoya International Women's Marathon.

The course record also fell in the high school boys' 10 km, where Kenyan students took the top five spots. 8 days after winning the junior race at the Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet, Steven Njeri (Fukuoka Daiichi H.S.) took the 10 km win in a new record time of 28:51 while last year's winner Titus Kihara Kifuru (Chinzei H.S.) was 3rd in 29:23. The top Japanese finisher, Kazuma Kubota (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) was 6th in 30:05.

In the men's half marathon, Team Asahi Kasei runners took two of the top three spots, with winner Keita Tsuchihashi holding off Teruo Taneno (Team Yasukawa Denki) by one second to finish in 1:04:08. Last year's high school 10 km runner-up Fumihiro Maruyama (Team Asahi Kasei) was 3rd in 1:04:14. Tsuchihashi and Maruyama are teammates of today's Biwako Mainichi Marathon runner-up Tomoyuki Sato.

2010 Tamana Road Race - Top Finishers
click division header for complete results
Women's 10 km
1. Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) - 31:57 - CR
2. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 32:43
3. Mika Okunaga (Team Kyudenko) - 33:29

High School Boys' 10 km
1. Steven Njeri (Kenya/Fukuoka Daiichi H.S.) - 28:51 - CR
2. Titus Waruru (Kenya/Chinzei H.S.) - 29:18
3. Titus Kihara Kifuru (Kenya/Chinzei H.S.) - 29:23

Men's Half Marathon
1. Keita Tsuchihashi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 1:04:08
2. Teruo Taneno (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 1:04:09
3. Fumihiro Maruyama (Team Asahi Kasei) - 1:04:14

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
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