Skip to main content

Solid Fields Lined Up for Kumamoto Kosa 10 Miler and Nittai Time Trials

by Brett Larner

The Fukuoka International Marathon is not all that is happening in Japan this weekend. Across Kyushu the Kumamoto Kosa 10 Miler, annually the world's most competitive race at that distance, has a fantastic matchup of a large share of the top young talent to make the pro ranks in the last two years, all tuning up for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national championships. 10 mile junior world record holder Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) is unquestionably the favorite as he continues his build toward an impending marathon debut, but the domestic field includes the likes of Tomoya Onishi (Team Asahi Kasei), Takuya Fukatsu (Team Asahi Kasei), Masato Kihara (Team Kanebo), Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu), Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei) and Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei), sub-28 minute 10000 m men one and all. If Ono is back to full health after a year lost to injury Asahi Kasei's prospects for the New Year Ekiden will be very promising indeed even without an African ringer.

Many of those not running Fukuoka or Kumamoto Kosa will be lining up in Yokohama at this year's final full edition of the Nittai University Time Trials. The entry list for the two-day meet of long distance track events includes past junior World XC champions Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda) and Caleb Ndiku (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin), 3000 mSC national record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu (Team Fujitsu), 2010 Tokyo Marathon winner Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda), 2010 National University 5000 m champion Kasumi Nishihara (Bukkyo Univ.), 2010 Kanto Regional University 5000 m champion Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.), 10000 m national collegiate record holder Hikari Yoshimoto (Bukkyo Univ.), 10000 m junior national record holder Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno), 2009 double 1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B) and many more. Look for exclusive coverage by JRN photographer Daniel Seite.

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more

Batt-Doyle and Strintzos Break Records at Launceston Half

Australians Isobel Batt-Doyle and Haftu Strintzos turned in record-breaking performances to win the McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania. Running with a private male pacer, NR holder Batt-Doyle dusted the field with the fastest half marathon ever by an Australian woman on Australian soil, a 1:08:46 CR that put her 2 and a half minutes ahead of runner-up Genevieve Gregson . Last year's runner-up Yumi Yoshikawa was almost a minute back from Gregson in 3rd in 1:12:03, but was almost run down by club runner Ayaka Shimoyamada . Starting slow in her international debut, Shimoyamada moved up from 7th over the 2nd half of the race to finish 4th in 1:12:06, kicking hard in the home straight to try to catch Yoshikawa and momentarily blacking out after finishing. Kaho Onishi was 7th in 1:12:45 in her own international debut. The men's half had pacing set at 2:53/km to try to deliver the first-ever sub-61 half marathon on Australian soil. CR holde...
Post a Comment
Read more

CHN and JPN National Records Go Down - Weekend Track Update

There weren't any Japanese athletes in action at the Rabat Diamond League meet Sunday, but 2 lower-tier domestic meets produced new national records. At the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama, Samuel Kibathi (Toyota) led the top 5 in the men's 10000 m under 28 minutes in 27:39.97. In 3rd, China's Wenjie Wang took just over a second off his own NR from the same meet last year, setting a new record of 27:47.53. His teammate Haoran Tang was 6th in a 28:27.44 PB, with the top Japanese time in the race being a 28:33.39 for 8th from Jin Yuasa (Toyota). Amazingly, Wang and Tang were back the next day on day 2 of the Nittai meet, Wang running a PB of 13:35.58 for 4th in the A-heat and Tang winning the B-heat in a PB of 13:38.80. Isaac Ndiema took the A-heat in 13:26.49, with the fastest Japanese time going to Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu) with a 13:35.94 for 5th behind Wang. Other Nittai highlights: Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) won a photo finish against Yua Nagamori ...
1 comment
Read more