Skip to main content

Watanabe Just Misses 10000 m A-Standard, Sophomore Yufu 28:02.46 to Lead Five Komazawa Univ. Men Under 29 in Fukagawa

by Brett Larner


With unseasonably cool temperatures ahead of an approaching typhoon the Hokuren Distance Challenge Fukagawa Meet on June 25 saw a raft of significant PB performances. Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) led three Japan-resident Kenyans to the top of the men's 10000 m A-heat with a win in 27:43.82, but the trio had company from 5000 m national champion Kazuya Watanabe (Team Shikoku Denryoku) who was shooting for the Daegu World Championships A-standard of sub-27:40 but came up just short in a large PB of 27:47.79 In so doing Watanabe, the all-time #2 Japanese man over 1500 m best-known for blacking out meters before the finish while leading the 2008 National Championships 1500 m, became the first Japanese man to break both 3:40 and 28:00. Missing the A-standard means that Watanabe will run only the 5000 m in Daegu.

More of a shock than Watanabe were the next two runners after him, Komazawa University sophomore Ikuto Yufu and junior Hiromitsu Kakuage, who ran PBs of 28:02.46 and 28:03.27 to beat Kenyans Benjamin Gandu (Nihon Univ.) and Micah Njeru (Team Toyota Boshoku). It's rare to see collegiate times this fast, particularly two teammated doing it in one race, and what's more three other Komazawa runners set new PBs under 29 minutes. 2011 Hakone Ekiden top two Waseda University and Toyo University are hovering aroung ten sub-29 minute men apiece, but with Komazawa up to six men that level now including star first-year Kenta Murayama, Yufu and Kakuage could lead Komazawa in a legitimate shot at challenging Waseda and Toyo for dominance in the upcoming ekiden season.

The women's 10000 m was also fast, with nine of the top ten recording new PBs led by Kenyan Sally Chepyego (Team Kyudenko) going under the World Championships A-standard with a 31:27.98. Seika Nishikawa (Team Sysmex), a teammate of marathon national record holder Mizuki Noguchi, was 2nd in a quick 32:12.64.

The final meet in this year's Hokuren Distance Challenge series takes place this Wednesday in Shibetsu and will focus on the 5000 m with Hitomi Niiya (Chiba Pref.) and Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) among others going for World Championships A-standard marks.

2011 Hokuren Distance Challenge Fukagawa Meet
Fukagawa, Hokkaido, 6/25/11
Men's 10000 m A-Heat
1. Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 27:43.82
2. James Rungar (Kenya/Team Toyota) - 27:44.86 - PB
3. Alex Mwangi (Kenya/Team YKK) - 27:47.51
4. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 27:47.79 - PB
5. Ikuto Yufu (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:02.46 - PB
6. Hiromitsu Kakuage (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:03.27 - PB
7. Benjamin Gandu (Kenya/Nihon Univ.) - 28:03.43 - PB
8. Micah Njeru (Kenya/Team Toyota Boshoku) - 28:03.48
9. Hiroyuki Ono (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 28:06.35 - PB
10. Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) - 28:12.02 - PB
-----
15. Shinobu Kubota (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:23.61 - PB

Women's 10000 m
1. Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 31:27.98 - PB
2. Seika Nishikawa (Team Sysmex) - 32:12.64 - PB
3. Eriko Kushima (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 32:16.84 - PB
4. Miho Ihara (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 32:18.00 - PB
5. Yuko Watanabe (Team Edion) - 32:27.89 - PB
6. Korei Omata (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 32:37.89 - PB
7. Misato Horie (Team Noritz) - 32:44.00 - PB
8. Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) - 32:44.60
9. Kumi Ogura (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 32:50.36 - PB
10. Akane Sekino (Team Hokuren) - 32:53.44 - PB

Men's 10000 m B-Heat
1. Kazuhiro Kuga (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:32.32 - PB
2. Minato Oishi (Team Toyota) - 28:42.29
3. Wataru Ueno (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:42.89 - PB
4. Kohei Matsumura (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) - 28:44.18
5. Shunsuke Nomura (Team Osaka Gas) - 28:47.04

Men's 5000 m A-Heat
1. Joseph Onsarigo (Kenya/Sozo Gakuen Univ.) - 13:46.85
2. Tomoya Shirayanagi (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 13:49.67
3. Yasuhiro Tago (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 13:51.98
4. Masato Kikuchi (Meiji Univ.) - 13:54.16
5. Yuki Arimura (Meiji Univ.) - 13:55.01

Women's 3000 m A-Heat
1. Ayaka Mori (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 9:17.68
2. Riko Matsuzaki (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 9:18.82
3. Natsuki Morita (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 9:19.32
4. Arina Urakawa (Meijo Univ.) - 9:20.15
5. Sayuri Sendo (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 9:20.42

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

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...
2 comments
Read more

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...
2 comments
Read more

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...
4 comments
Read more