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.)

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

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