Kinukawa Takes a Major Win at East Japan Corporate Championships, Gives Credit to Wanjiru

by Brett Larner

The corporate regional spring track championships wrapped up this weekend with the East Japan Jitsugyodan T&F Championships in hot, humid and windy Kumagaya, Saitama. The big news at the meet came in the women's 5000 m, where 10000 m junior national record holder Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) emerged from nearly four years of illness and injury to take her first competitive win in memory, running 15:37.50 to beat Kenyan Felista Wanjugu (Team Univ. Ent.) and World Championships marathon team leader Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei). Although still short of a World Championships B-standard, Kinukawa's run was her first time under 15:40 in almost four years and a large step in the right direction ahead of next month's National T&F Championships. After the race Kinukawa, who was a star at Sendai Ikuei H.S. at the same time as the late Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya), told journalist Tatsuo Terada, "I didn't think I was ready to run like this. It's been three or four years of darkness, but I think Samuel was there to give me some of his strength. I'd say the doorway to a comeback opened up about 1 cm. I don't want it to swing back shut, so I'll just keep pushing it open."

Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) was strong in the women's 10000 m with a PB of 32:34.00 for the win over the pro debut of university star Kasumi Nishihara (Team Yamada Denki) who was 2nd in 32:50.55. National record holder Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) was 8th in 33:46.70, while marathoner Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) was 11th in 34:00.41.

Apart from Kinukawa and Shoi, Japan-based Africans swept the distance events at the championships. The most interesting race came in the men's 5000 m, where 2008 world jr. XC champion and 2006 world jr. 10000 m champion Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda) had a narrow win over 2010 and 2008 double world jr. 3000 mSC champion Jonathan Ndiku (Kenya/Team Hitachi Cable), 13:25.71 to 13:27.76. Ndiku did chalk up one win, taking the 1500 m in 3:42.28. Long-distance man Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) took 3rd in the 1500 m in a new PB of 3:44.80, afterwards expressing satisfaction as he looks toward the 5000 m for his first World Championships team.

Click here for part two of the men's 10000 m.

Japanese 10000 m all-comers record holder Josephat Ndambiri (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.) had a win in the men's 10000 m, 27:39.21 over past Kenyan XC champion Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin). Grace Kimanzi (Kenya/Team Starts) rounded out the weekend's results with a successful double in the women's 1500 m and 3000 m.

East Japan Jitsugyodan T&F Championships

Kumagaya, Saitama, 5/21-22/11

click here for complete results

Women's 10000 m

1. Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 32:34.00 - PB

2. Kasumi Nishihara (Team Yamada Denki) - 32:50.55

3. Misaki Katsumata (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 32:51.92

Men's 10000 m

1. Josephat Ndambiri (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.) - 27:39.21

2. Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 27:41.32

3. Paul Kuira (Kenya/Team Konica Minolta) - 27:51.13

Women's 5000 m

1. Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) - 15:37.50

2. Felista Wanjugu (Kenya/Team Univ. Ent.) - 15:39.95

3. Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 15:40.67

Men's 5000 m

1. Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda) - 13:25.71

2. Jonathan Ndiku (Kenya/Team Hitachi Cable) - 13:27.56

3. Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:34.68

Women's 3000 m

1. Grace Kimanzi (Kenya/Team Starts) - 9:11.97

2. Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 9:21.21

3. Machi Tanaka (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 9:24.33

Women's 1500 m

1. Grace Kimanzi (Kenya/Team Starts) - 4:24.69

2. Eri Watanabe (Team Panasonic) - 4:26.31

3. Michiko Suguro (Team Shiseido) - 4:26.80

Men's 1500 m

1. Jonathan Ndiku (Kenya/Team Hitachi Cable) - 3:42.28

2. Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Team Fujitsu) - 3:44.66

3. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 3:44.80 - PB

CHN and JPN National Records Go Down - Weekend Track Update

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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."...

Ngetich Breaks CR, Murayama and Sasaki Make U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10k

WR holder Agnes Ngetich soloed a fast one at the 54th edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10k, leading inside the first mile and pulling away the rest of the race to run a 30:07 CR for the win, the fastest time ever on U.S. soil albeit on a slightly net downhill course. On a warm day that saw over 10,000 women finish Tsigie Gebreselama was on her own most of the way too, a distant 2nd in 30:53 and 17 seconds up on past champ Hellen Obiri . Further back, 2026 World University Cross Country bronze medalist Amisa Murayama and 2025 Morinomiyako Ekiden 3rd leg CR breaker Nazuki Sasaki from 2025 National University Women's Ekiden runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University made their U.S. debuts. Murayama was targeting the fastest-ever Japanese time at the Mini, 32:37, but struggled on the hills just before 5 km and late in the race, fading to finish 23rd in 34:08. Sasaki, recovering from a stress reaction in her upper back a few months ago, ran a conservative ...

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