Skip to main content

Kinukawa Again With 31:10.02 For All-Time Japanese #4 at Abashiri 10000 m

by Brett Larner

Ten days after staging a big comeback with a 15:09.96 national 5000 m title, the all-time sixth-best by a Japanese woman, Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) did it again, running a solo 31:10.02 at the June 22 Hokuren Distance Challenge Abashiri Meet 10000 m to become the all-time fourth-fastest Japanese woman over the distance. More impressive than her time, which cleared the World Championships A-standard by over 30 seconds and makes a double in Daegu very likely, was the way she paced the race. After a 15:45 first half Kinukawa gradually ratcheted up her pace, negative splitting with a 15:25 second half which included 9:09 for the final 3000 m and a superb 2:58 final km. Although rain shortly before the race helped to lower temperatures, conditions at the finish were still a less-than-ideal 20 degrees with 81% humidity. In light of this and her conservative first half it's exciting to consider what might be in store for Kinukawa against a more competitive, aggressive field like that she'll face in Daegu.

With Kinukawa's nearest competition over a minute behind there was little else noteworthy in the race, but roughly half the field recorded new PB marks. The same was true in the A-heat of the men's 5000 m, won by Kenyan John Thuo (Team Toyota) in 13:15.53. Six of the top ten ran new PBs, among them first-year Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.), best known for his 28:23.18 as a high school senior last fall, and Kazuki Onishi (Team Kanebo), the lesser-known identical twin of 2010's top Japanese 10000 m and half-marathon runner Tomoya Onishi (Team Asahi Kasei).

The Hokuren Distance Challenge continues on Saturday in Fukagawa, Hokkaido.

2011 Hokuren Distance Challenge Abashiri Meet
Abashiri, Hokkaido, 6/22/11
Women's 10000 m
1. Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) - 31:10.02 - PB
2. Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 32:15.09
3. Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 32:17.39 - PB
4. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 32:23.29
5. Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) - 32:50.50
6. Hitomi Nakamura (Team Panasonic) - 32:50.75 - PB
7. Ayumi Sakaida (Team Daihatsu) - 32:59.09 - PB
8. Yuka Hakoyama (Team Wacoal) - 33:13.40
9. Asami Kato (Team Panasonic) - 33:16.21 - PB
10. Shiori Kakizaki (Team Wacoal) - 33:26.50 - debut

Men's 5000 m - Heat A
1. John Thuo (Keyna/Team Toyota) - 13:15.53 - PB
2. Edward Waweru (Kenya/Team NTN) - 13:18.94
3. Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) - 13:38.42 - PB
4. Assefe Fekele (Ethiopia/Team Kanebo) - 13:40.98 - PB
5. James Rungar (Kenya/Team Toyota) - 13:41.41
6. Kenta Matsumoto (Team Toyota) - 13:43.76 - PB
7. Kazuharu Takai (Team Kyudenko) - 13:46.78
8. Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:47.19 - PB
9. Kazuki Onishi (Team Kanebo) - 13:48.82 - PB
10. Kazuki Tomaru (Team Toyota) - 13:50.57

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

JY said…
That's awesome! After three years silence, Megumi Kinukawa was back and became a brand-new Megumi Kinukawa! Congratulation to her.

Most-Read This Week

Ninja Runner Yuka Ando Leads Japanese Women's Marathon Team in London: "I Want to Go For It"

Her form has been dubbed "ninja running." Both arms held straight down with almost no movement. That idiosyncratic style carried Yuka Ando , 23, to the fastest-ever marathon debut by a Japanese woman, 2:21:36, at March's Nagoya Women's Marathon to land at #4 on the all-time Japanese lists. All at once Ando found herself catapulted to the top level of women's marathoning, a candidate for Japan's next great marathoner. When she was younger Ando ran moving her arms like other runners, but she had a bad habit of moving robotically, her upper body and lower body not working in sync. The turning point came in 2014 when she joined Suzuki Hamamatsu AC . Working there with coach Masayuki Satouchi to eliminate the faults in her form, the pair arrived at the ninja running style that let her run relaxed. "Other people keep asking me, "Isn't it hard to run like that?" but for me it's comfortable," she said. The efficient form helped her mai

Yamaguchi 10th at United Airlines NYC Half - Weekend Overseas Results

2024 national cross-country champion Tomonori Yamaguchi was the top Japanese finisher in the men's race at the United Airlines NYC Half , taking 10th in 1:04:36. A 2nd-year at Waseda University , Yamaguchi was one of three collegiate runners running New York in the 11th year of JRN's development program collaboration between the Ageo City Half Marathon and the New York Road Runners, a program that has seen people like future half marathon and marathon NR breaker Yuta Shitara and Paris Olympic team member Akira Akasaki make their international debuts. Yamaguchi's Waseda teammate Taishi Ito started fast, going with the leaders through 5 km in 14:29 before losing touch. Hosei University senior Rei Matsunaga went through in 14:42 in his last race before joining the JR Higashi Nihon corporate team in April. Yamaguchi, who caught COVID after winning last month's National Cross-Country Championships, started more conservatively with a 15:11 first 5km. But where both Ito

Rui Aoki Wins National University Men's Half Marathon - Weekend Results

Yuka Ando 's win at the Nagoya Women's Marathon was the big news of the weekend, but there were other high-level races happening, even in Nagoya. Held in parallel with the marathon, the Nagoya City Half Marathon saw Australians Natalie Rule and Ed Goddard take easy wins by about 2.5 minutes each, Rule in 1:13:57 and Goddard in 1:04:01. The new Biwako Marathon also had a non-Japanese winner, China's Yousheng Guan scoring 1st in 2:14:58 with Japan's Hirohito Sugai next in 2:16:40. Mikiko Ota won the women's race in 2:50:44. The Shizuoka Marathon returned for its first running in five years, with club runner Shumpei Oda leading the top 7 men under 2:20 in 2:15:36. Women's winner Remi Tanaka ran 2:41:23, beating runner-up Ayumi Sano by exactly 7 minutes. And in Tokyo, Rui Aoki continued what has been a great season so far for Koku Gakuin University with a win at the National University Men's Half Marathon . Aoki and Hiro Konda of Chuo Gakuin Unive