Kawauchi Returns to Action - Nittaidai Time Trials Entry Lists

by Brett Larner

The 2011 Nittai University Time Trials series gets underway next weekend in Yokohama. A tuneup event for other track meets on Japan's spring calendar, the 214th edition of Nittai sees the return to action of Japan's current #1 marathoner, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama T&F Assoc.). The amateur who made worldwide news with a moving 2:08:37 3rd-place finish at February's Tokyo Marathon, Kawauchi comes to Nittai fresh from having been named to Japan's 2011 World Championships marathon team as its #1 man. Entered in both Saturday's 10000 m A-heat and Sunday's 5000 m A-heat it's unlikely he will run both, but whichever distance he chooses it is safe to say that everyone will be watching Kawauchi.

This early in the season most distance men are focusing on 5000 m, and as a result the 5000 m A-heat features a larger number of noteworthy names. Among them are Japan's top man at last month's World XC Championships, Hirotaka Tamura (Nihon Univ.), 2010 Tokyo Marathon winner Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda), Kenyans Daniel Gitau (Team Fujitsu), Cosmas Ondiba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.), Ibrahim Mukunga (Team Fujitsu) and Joseph Onsarigo (Sozo Gakuen Univ.), the latter two in their Japanese debuts, and three members of 2011 Hakone Ekiden winners Waseda University, Shota Hiraga, Fuminori Shikata and Yuki Yagi.

Leading the 10000 m A-heat is 2010 Kanto Regional University 10000 m champion Benjamin Gandu (Nihon Univ.). The women's fields are relatively weaker than the men's and are split between 3000 m, 5000 m and 10000 m. Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo has most of its lineup entered in the 5000 m A-heat, led by 10000 m national record holder Yoko Shibui.

214th Nittai University Time Trials Entry List Highlights

click here for complete entry lists

Men's 5000 m Heat 24

Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda)

Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Team Fujitsu)

Shota Hiraga (Waseda Univ.)

Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama T&F Assoc.)

Ibrahim Mukunga (Kenya/Team Fujitsu)

Kota Murayama (Josai Univ.)

Cosmas Ondiba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.)

Joseph Onsarigo (Kenya/Sozo Gakuen Univ.)

Fuminori Shikata (Waseda Univ.)

Yuta Takahashi (Team S&B)

Hirotaka Tamura (Nihon Univ.)

Yuki Yagi (Waseda Univ.)

Men's 5000 m Heat 23

Asefa Fekele (Ethiopia/Team Kanebo)

Takeshi Horiguchi (Team Honda)

Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo)

Takeshi Makabe (Team Kanebo)

Yusei Nakao (Team Toyota Boshoku)

Keita Shitara (Toyo Univ.)

Kensuke Takahashi (Team Toyota)

Kazuki Tomaru (Team Toyota)

Women's 5000 m Heat 16

Risa Nakamura (Team Hitachi)

Chisato Osaki (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo)

Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo)

Ikuyo Yamashita (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo)

Women's 3000 m Heat 3

Ai Igarashi (Team Sysmex)

Misaki Onishi (Team Sekisui Kagaku)

Yukina Saijo (Team Sekisui Kagaku)

Murugi Wainaina (Kenya/Toyokawa H.S.)

Men's 10000 m Heat 5

Benjamin Gandu (Kenya/Nihon Univ.)

Soji Ikeda (Team Yakult)

Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama T&F Assoc.)

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."...

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 ...

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...

japan running news

Search This Blog