Shibui Takes Nittai 5000 m, Fujimoto Wins 1500 m A-Heat

by Brett Larner

With most of the country's top athletes lining up at the Oda Memorial, Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational and Shizuoka International meets, the 215th edition of the Nittai University Time Trials meet Apr. 30-May 1 in Yokohama saw mostly second-string runners tuning up for bigger meets later in the season. Times were hampered by wind and rain, particularly on the meet's second day, but there were several noteworthy performances neverthless.

In the men's 10000 m, newcomer Joseph Onsarigo (Kenya/Sozo Gakuen Univ.) was the only man to break 29 minutes. Onsarigo is coached by Stephen Mayaka, the first Kenyan runner to go the full circuit through the Japanese high school, university and corporate running system. Onsarigo should make an impact at October's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai 20 km road race. In the women's 5000 m A-heat, 10000 m national record holder Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) won by 5 seconds over teammate Ikuyo Yamashita a day before rival Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) takes another swing at Shibui's record in Stanford.

A week after setting a short-lived world leader in the 10000 m at the Hyogo Relay Carnival meet, Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) added another win over former Sendai Ikuei H.S. star Paul Kuira (Kenya/Team Konica Minolta) to his resume with a 13:38.84 time in the men's 5000 m. Kenyan high schooler Wainaina Murgi (Toyokawa H.S.), winner of the women's 3000 m at the 214th Nittai Time Trials, won this round as well, beating countrywoman Rose Maranga (Team Toto) by 13 seconds with a 9:18.64 clocking.

Perhaps the most interesting result came in the men's 1500 m A-heat, where surprise 2010 Kanto Regional University 5000 m champion Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.) beat pro middle-distance runners Shunta Kubo and Keisuke Tanaka (both Team Fujitsu) as he clocked a PB of 3:47.21 just a week after running 28:57.79 at the Hyogo Relay Carnival 10000 m. Fujimoto's closing speed was instrumental in last year's Kanto win over top-ranked distance men Akinobu Murasawa (Tokai Univ.) and Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Meiji Univ.). He looks to be in a good position to have a shot at repeating later this month at the 2011 Kanto Regionals.

215th Nittai University Time Trials - Top Results

click here for complete results

Men's 10000 m - Heat 5

1. Joseph Onsarigo (Kenya/Sozo Gakuen Univ.) - 28:50.70

2. Soichiro Ichikawa (Waseda Univ.) - 29:46.74

3. Ryuichi Kagawa (Teikyo Univ.) - 29:52.45

Women's 5000 m - Heat 17

1. Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 16:06.39

2. Ikuyo Yamashita (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 16:11.06

3. Rina Yonetsu (Meijo Univ.) - 16:12.46

4. Misato Horie (Team Noritz) - 16:12.99

5. Nami Kakitsu (Team Edion) - 16:14.36

Men's 5000 m - Heat 20

1. Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 13:38.84

2. Paul Kuira (Kenya/Team Konica Minolta) - 13:38.90

3. John Maina (Kenya/Takushoku Univ.) - 13:43.62

4. Atsushi Yamazaki (Team Subaru) - 14:01.33

5. Asefa Fekele (Ethiopia/Team Kanebo) - 14:03.04

Women's 3000 m - Heat 3

1. Wainaina Murgi (Kenya/Toyokawa H.S.) - 9:18.64

2. Rose Maranga (Kenya/Team Toto) - 9:31.32

3. Rui Aoyama (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 9:34.47

Men's 1500 m - Heat 11

1. Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.) - 3:47.21

2. Shunta Kubo (Team Fujitsu) - 3:49.38

3. Keisuke Tanaka (Team Fujitsu) - 3:50.60

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."...

Nat'l University Ekiden Updates Here

Looks like I just went over my update limit on Twitter - sorry, it's the first time I've tried to use it for this. I'll look for another option next time. In the meantime I'll add updates to the comments below. Not sure if that has a max too but I guess we'll find out. Update: Part one of the Nationals commentary can be found here .

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...

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