Skip to main content

Tomoya Onishi Stage Record on Kyushu One-Circuit Ekiden Day Three

by Brett Larner

With the top Japanese men's 10000 m and half marathon times of the year and a 9th-place finish at the World Half Marathon Championships under his belt within the last month, Miyazaki Prefecture's Tomoya Onishi, 23, delivered another big run with a 43:55 stage record for the 15.3 km Fourth Stage on Day Three of the 2010 Kyushu One-Circuit Ekiden, Oct. 31 on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu. Onishi's time broke the existing stage record by 1:12, 5 seconds per km, and was equivalent to a solid 46:11 10-miler. Stage runner-up Ryuji Watanabe of Fukuoka Prefecture also broke the old Fourth Stage record with a 44:16 clocking.

As with the first two days of the ten-day Kyushu One-Circuit Ekiden, the Miyazaki Prefecture team dominated the early stages of Day Three. A weak run from Third Stage runner Noritaka Yokoyama put Miyazaki 59 seconds behind rivals Fukuoka prefecture at the start of the Fourth Stage, and the team spent the next four stage edging back toward the lead, coming within 18 seconds at the start of the final 12.4 km Eighth Stage. Miyazaki anchor and 2009 World Championships marathoner Masaya Shimizu went to work, reeling in struggling Fukuoka anchor Yutaka Kusaga and retaking the lead. A crushed Kusaga folded and had a rare DNF, meaning that Fukuoka would receive a penalty clocking for the anchor stage of 5 minutes slower than the slowest finisher. Despite this penalty, Fukuoka finished 2nd overall for the day. Nagasaki Prefecture maintained its 3rd place spot as the ekiden moves into its fourth day.

2010 Kyushu Isshu Ekiden Day Three
click here for complete results from Day Three
Stage Best Performances
First Stage (13.4 km) - Kenichi Shiraishi (Miyazaki Pref.) - 39:22
Second Stage (11.7 km) - Kenji Higashino (Miyazaki Pref.) - 35:55
Third Stage (10.4 km) - Yuya Konishi (Fukuoka Pref.) - 30:34
Fourth Stage (15.3 km) - Tomoya Onishi (Miyazaki Pref.) - 43:55 - CR
Fifth Stage (20.0 km) - Noritaka Fujiyama (Nagasaki Pref.) - 1:00:21
Sixth Stage (20.2 km) - Tomoyuki Sato (Miyazaki Pref.) - 1:01:21
Seventh Stage (14.4 km) - Kenichiro Setoguchi (Miyazaki Pref.) - 44:10
Eighth Stage (12.4 km) - Masaya Shimizu (Miyazaki Pref.) - 37:51

Top Team Performances - 117.8 km
1. Miyazaki Pref. - 5:56:53
2. Fukuoka Pref. - 6:03:55
3. Nagasaki Pref. - 6:08:20
4. Oita Pref. - 6:10:26
5. Kagoshima Pref. - 6:13:11

Top Team Standings After Day Three - 286.9 km
1. Miyazaki Pref. - 14:31:20
2. Fukuoka Pref. - 14:44:36
3. Nagasaki Pref. - 14:52:04
4. Oita Pref. - 15:09:20
5. Kagoshima Pref. - 15:12:36

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

Long Time Coming - Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera's Road to the 2022 United Airlines NYC Half

Back in pre-pandemic days Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera  were still in college, Akasaki at Takushoku University and Onodera at Teikyo University . At the 2019 Ageo City Half Marathon they frontran most of the race together, dead set on finishing in the top two Japanese collegiate spots to win invitations to the 2020 United Airlines NYC Half. For Akasaki it had already been a year and a half wait. Inspired by Kenta Murayama 's 1:00:57 5th place in finish in New York in 2017 and Kei Katanishi 's 7th-place in 2018, Akasaki went for it his junior year in his debut at the 2018 Ageo Half . "Coming up to 10 km I was in the lead pack and feeling good, so I knew I had a shot at going to New York and got pretty excited," he said. But right after the 10 km turnaround point he tripped and fell, and by the time he was back up the lead group was out of range. He finished 20th in 1:03:07, over a minute and a half behind top Japanese university man Ken Nakayama . "I was f...