Skip to main content

Yokota Tops Japanese Results at KBC Nacht

by Brett Larner

Men's 800 m national record holder Masato Yokota (Team Fujitsu) had the best result of the day for the Japanese contingent at this year's KBC Nacht meet in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium on July 10. Less than half a second off his national record of 1:46:16, Yokota won the 800 m in 1:46.63 by the narrowest of margins over South African Jonas Windy. Among the other Japanese participants in the meet, Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) was perhaps the most disappointing as he fell well short in his attempt on the Japanese 5000 m national record, running only 13:27.36 for 9th. A summary of results is included below.

2010 KBC Nacht - Top Results
Men's 800 m
1. Masato Yokota (Team Fujitsu) - 1:46.63
2. Jonas Windy (South Africa) - 1:46.64
3. Ludolph Siren (Germany) - 1:47.29

Men's 1500 m B-heat
1. Mthobisi Baloyi (South Africa) - 3:41.58
2. Gregory Beugnet (France) - 3:31.99
3. Niels Verwer (Netherlands) - 3:42.75
-----
4. Yasunori Murakami (Team Fujitsu) - 3:42.99
10. Masahiro Takaya (Japan) - 4:02.62

Men's 5000 m
1. Jacob Cheshari (Kenya) - 12:59.72
2. Josphat Menjo (Kenya) - 13:00.67
3. Leonard Komon (Kenya) - 13:17.32
-----
9. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:27.36

Men's 5000 m B-heat
1. Mert Girmalegese (Turkey) - 13:34.73
2. Kemal Koyuncu (Tukey) - 13:35.72
3. Scott Bauhs (U.S.A.) - 13:36.77
-----
7. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:43.99
15. Takuya Ishikawa (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 14:00.84

Men's Javelin
1. Jakub Vadeljch (Czech Rep.) - 78.57
2. Peter Esenwin (Germany) - 76.50
3. Tom Goyvaerts (Belgium) - 76.46
-----
6. Kazuki Yamamoto (Japan) - 72.28

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Anonymous said…
Even though the winning time was under 13, the conditions were not ideal for a super fast time. It was windy, warm and slightly dusty from the wind that created a slight headwind on the back straight.

That was my first time to watch Mr. Sato run in person. His stride is very efficient. I think that his mechanics are actually much better for the marathon.
Brett Larner said…
Thanks for the firsthand report. Having watched Sato on the roads in Hakone and post-university I agree, he has a good future in the marathon. I think it'll be a few years though as he focuses on the track national records.

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

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

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