Skip to main content

Murayama 28:23.18 for High School Year Leader

by Brett Larner
photos by Daniel Seite


#30 Kenta Murayama (Meisei H.S.) on the shoulder of 2010 Tokyo Marathon winner #16 Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda).

Hot from a 13:49.45 PB two weeks ago, Meisei High School's Kenta Murayama ran the fastest 10000 m time of the year by a Japanese high schooler, 28:23.18, to finish 3rd in the A-heat at the 213th Nittai University Time Trials meet Dec. 4 in Yokohama. Ahead of Murayama were only Kenyans Jacob Wanjuki and Samuel Ndungu of Team Aichi Seiko, Wanjuki winning in a strong PB of 27:49.44. Among the Japanese competition to finish behind Murayama were 2010 Tokyo Marathon winner Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) and 2010 Kanto Regional University 5000 m champion Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.), who battled head to head to finish 5th and 6th in 28:27.52 and 28:27.66.

10000 m A-Heat winner Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko).

Murayama's time improved the high school year best time by 30 seconds over the sub-29 time set two weeks ago by Yuma Hattori (Sendai Ikuei H.S.). Combined with his 5000 m mark it sets him as the star recruit for next spring's incoming university class. Look for him to join Komazawa University's squad come April. The Nittai Time Trials continue tomorrow with 35 heats of 5000 m.

213th Nittai University Time Trials Day One
click here for complete results
Men's 10000 m Heat 11
1. Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 27:49.44 - PB
2. Samuel Ndungu (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 28:08.14
3. Kenta Murayama (Meisei H.S.) - 28:23.18 - PB
4. Takayuki Hamaguchi (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 28:26.77 - PB
5. Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) - 28:27.52
6. Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.) - 28:27.66 - PB
7. Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo) - 28:29.47
8. Takahiro Yamanaka (Team Honda) - 28:33.69 - PB
9. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 28:34.25
10. John Wainaina (Kenya/Team Omokawa Murakiya) - 28:36.18

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
photos (c) and (p) 2010 Daniel Seite
all rights reserved

Comments

Anonymous said…
Are there any Fukuoka results yet??

It is several hours after completion of the race in Honolulu.
Brett Larner said…
It is several hours after the completion of the race everywhere, but yes, now that I am home from my ekiden I have posted results.

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