Jeilan 27:09.02 at Hokuren Distance Challenge Kitami Meet

by Brett Larner

The first meet of the 2011 Hokuren Distance Challenge series took place June 19 in Kitami, Hokkaido. With cooler than usual temperatures 2006 world 10000 m junior champion and 2008 world junior XC champion Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda) delivered the biggest result of the evening, a solo 27:09.02 nearly a minute ahead of runner-up Alex Mwangi (Kenya/Team YKK). Jeilan's time was the third-fastest of the year by an Ethiopian, putting him into consideration for the Ethiopian team for August's Daegu World Championships. In 5th, third-year Yuki Maeda (Waseda Univ.), whose excellent run on the first day of this year's Hakone Ekiden was instrumental in keeping Waseda in contention for the win, became the latest Waseda runner to break 29 minutes as he clocked a PB of 28:54.34. Ten men on the roster of Waseda's 2010-2011 squad held PBs under 29 minutes.

In the women's 5000 m, 2011 East Japan Corporate T&F 10000 m champion Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) ran a strong 15:32.13, the third-best so far this year by a Japanese woman. The meet's other most notable result came in the men's 1500 m A-heat, where Kenyan Edward Waweru (Team NTN) ran a PB of 3:38.90, the fastest time of the year so far on Japanese soil.

The Hokuren Distance Challenge continues June 22 in Abashiri, Hokkaido.

2011 Hokuren Distance Challenge Kitami Meet

Kitami, Hokkaido, 6/19/11

click here for complete results

Men's 10000 m

1. Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda) - 27:09.02

2. Alex Mwangi (Kenya/Team YKK) - 28:01.50

3. Assefa Fekele (Ethiopia/Team Kanebo) - 28:32.86

4. Takehiro Arakawa (Team Asahi Kasei) - 28:52.60

5. Yuki Maeda (Waseda Univ.) - 28:54.34

6. Kazuki Onishi (Team Kanebo) - 28:55.90

7. Ryotaro Nitta (Team Konica Minolta) - 28:58.31

8. Naoto Yoneda (Team Konica Minolta) - 29:07.93

9. Fumihiro Maruyama (Team Asahi Kasei) - 29:09.11

10. Shota Hiraga (Waseda Univ.) - 29:09.75

Women's 5000 m

1. Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 15:32.13

2. Misako Onishi (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:46.64

3. Risa Kikuchi (Team Hitachi) - 15:48.61

4. Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) - 15:58.42

5. Korei Omata (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 16:03.06

6. Eri Watanabe (Team Panasonic) - 16:06.54

7. Haruka Igarashi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 16:08.62

8. Miku Yamamoto (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 16:09.31

9. Risa Nakamura (Team Hitachi) - 16:09.61

10. Yuri Umemura (Team Panasonic) - 16:10.29

Men's 3000 m

1. Kosuke Murasashi (Team YKK) - 8:13.89

2. Wataru Yamaguchi (Team Hitachi Cable) - 8:16.24

3. Makoto Hasegawa (Team Hitachi Cable) - 8:17.51

Women's 3000 m

1. Rose Maranga (Kenya/Team Toto) - 9:14.17

2. Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) - 9:16.42

3. Kazumi Hashimoto (Team Hokuren) - 9:27.42

Men's 1500 m A-Heat

1. Edward Waweru (Kenya/Team NTN) - 3:38.90

2. Sang-Min Sin (Korea) - 3:42.38

3. Kazunari Murakami (Team Fujitsu) - 3:43.70

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance? Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance. This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere. It was put into place in 1986. In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made. Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km. When a bicycle is u...

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...

2026 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field

The Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon has great fields this year, so let's get right to it. The women's field has 3 of last year's top 10, winner for the 2nd year in a row and Tokyo CR holder Sutume Asefa Kebede , 3rd-placer and 2025 Chicago winner Hawi Feysa , and 5th-placer and 2025 Berlin winner Rosemary Wanjiru , plus 2024 Valencia winner Megertu Alemu , 2025 Prague winner Bertukan Welde , 2024 Paris winner Mestawut Fikir , 2024 Osaka winner Waganesh Mekasha , former WR holder Brigid Kosgei , and a lot more. Japanese hopes pretty much go to all-time #7 Ai Hosoda , 2:20:31 in Berlin 2024 but who announced this month that she is retiring after Tokyo despite having qualified for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th in Sydney last year. Other internationals include Canadian Malindi Elmore , American Sara Hall , a big Chinese group led by Yuyu Xia , Poland's Aleksandra Brzezińska and Australian Vanessa Wilson . The men's race has 5 of last year's top 1...

japan running news

Search This Blog