World Leads at Hyogo Relay Carnival and Nittai Time Trials

World Leads at Hyogo Relay Carnival and Nittai Time Trials - Day One Report

by Brett Larner

Two big two-day meets got started Saturday, turning out two world-leading times. At the Hyogo Relay Carnival the Asics Challenge events serve as the B-heats ahead of Sunday's Olympic selection Grand Prix races, but there was nothing second-tier in the men's 10000 m as James Mwangi (Team NTN) ran a world-leading 27:23.04 to lead six men, all Kenya, under 28 minutes. Mwangi's time took more than 9 seconds off the meet record set in way back in 2005 by the late great Samuel Wanjiru. Fabiano Sulle (Tanzania) was the top non-Kenyan at 7th in 28:01.76.

Second-year Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) led the collegiate results in 3rd in 27:56.47. Tokai University dominated Heat Two of the 10000 m with three runners, two of them first-years, going sub-29 led by first-year Hayato Seki with the win in 28:48.63. Toyo University first-year Sota Watanabe also cleared 29, just, running 28:59.77 for 10th. Many more university men broke 29 at the Nittai Time Trials meet, led by Stanley Siteki (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) in 28:39.29, pointing to an exciting hear ahead on the university ekiden circuit.

The other world-leading run came at Nittai as Kenyan Helen Ekarare (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) ran 8:56.92 to win the women's 3000 m A-heat, followed closely by rival Monica Margaret (Aomori Yamada H.S.) in 8:58.93. Natsumi Yoshida (Route Inn Hotels) topped the Nittai women's 5000 m A-heat in 15:51.55, but back in Hyogo Hisami Ishii (Yamada Denki) turned in a bigger run, delivering the fastest Japanese women's 5000 m so far this year with a 15:39.92 in the Asics Challenge Women's 5000 m, the only runner there to break 16. Both Hyogo and Nittai continue tomorrow.

64th Hyogo Relay Carnival - Day One Highlights
Universiade Memorial Stadium, Kobe, Hyogo, 4/23/16
click here for complete results

Asics Challenge Men's 10000 m Heat One
1. James Mwangi (Kenya/NTN) - 27:23.04 - WL, MR
2. Alexander Mutiso (Kenya/ND Software) - 27:47.20
3. Dominic Nyairo (Kenya/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 27:56.47
4. Patrick Muendo Muwaka (Kenya/Aisan Kogyo) - 27:56.97
5. Charles Ndungu (Kenya/Komori Corp.) - 27:57.36
6. Macharia Ndirangu (Kenya/Aichi Seiko) - 27:57.57
7. Fabiano Sulle (Tanzania) - 28:01.53
8. Silas Kingori (Kenya/SGH Group) - 28:01.76
9. Hiram Ngatia (Kenya/Toyota) - 28:05.56
10. Alex Mwangi (Kenya/YKK) - 28:26.11

Asics Challenge Men's 10000 m Heat 2
1. Hayato Seki (Tokai Univ.) - 28:48.63
2. Hiroyuki Ishikawa (Aisan Kogyo) - 28:49.11
3. Junji Katakawa (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 28:52.21
4. Kento Otsu (Toyota Kyushu) - 28:53.66
5. Ryutaro Ichitani (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 28:55.14
6. Kazuto Kawabata (Tokai Univ.) - 28:55.26
7. Shota Onizuka (Tokai Univ.) - 28:55.26
8. Kazuki Muramoto (Sumitomo Denko) - 28:55.45
9. Daisuke Koyama (Chudenko) - 28:56.71
10. Sota Watanabe (Toyo Univ.) - 28:59.77

Asics Challenge Women's 5000 m
1. Hisami Ishii (Yamada Denki) - 15:39.92
2. Sakie Arai (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 16:00.59
3. Kasumi Nishihara (Yamada Denki) - 16:00.66
4. Nami Hashimoto (Denso) - 16:02.63
5. Ayano Ikemitsu (Kagoshima Ginko) - 16:04.29

249th Nittai University Time Trials - Day One Highlights
Nittai University, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 4/23/16
click here for complete results

Women's 3000 m Heat 5
1. Helen Ekarare (Kenya/Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 8:56.92 - WL
2. Monica Margaret (Kenya/Aomori Yamada H.S.) - 8:58.93
3. Tomoka Kimura (Universal Entertainment) - 9:10.12
4. Wakana Kabasawa (Tokiwa H.S.) - 9:11.32
5. Yumika Nagahama (Miura Gakuen H.S.) - 9:22.23

Women's 5000 m Heat 4
1. Natsumi Yoshida (Route Inn Hotels) - 15:51.55
2. Yuma Adachi (Kyocera) - 15:51.56
3. Satomi Ueta (Kyocera) - 15:52.08
4. Yuri Nozoe (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 15:59.69
5. Harumi Okamoto (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 16:01.57

Men's 10000 m Heat 8
1. John Maina (Kenya/Fujitsu) - 27:43.70
2. Daniel Muiva Kitonyi (Kenya/Kanebo) - 28:04.22
3. Johana Maina (Kenya/Fujitsu) - 28:18.45
4. Yuta Shitara (Honda) - 28:19.43
5. Stanley Siteki (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 28:39.29
6. Titus Mogusu (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 28:39.68
7. Naoki Kudo (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:40.31
8. Simon Kariuki (Kenya/Nihon Yakka Univ.) - 28:40.86
9. Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) - 28:44.44
10. Yuki Matsumura (Honda) - 28:44.83

© 2016 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Hakone Champ AGU Hits 50 km a Day in Spring Break Training Camp

Having scored its 3rd-straight Hakone Ekiden win this past January, Aoyama Gakuin University spent the Golden Week spring holidays training on the Myoko Plateau in Niigata from May 2-6. Along with the champion men's ekiden team, the first 2 members of AGU's new women's long distance team Nodoka Ashida and Kairi Ikeno , and AGU alumni and 2026 New Year Ekiden champion GMO team members Yuya Yoshida and Asahi Kuroda also took part in the training camp. Depending on the day's training schedule, mileage at the camp was over 50 km a day. AGU men's captain Kaito Nakamura confidently said, "This Golden Week training camp is where we lay the foundations for our 4th-straight Hakone title." A lot of people spend Golden Week on vacation, but the AGU ekiden team spent their time working hard on Myoko's rolling land amid the sprouting leaves of spring. On the 2nd day of the camp, May 3, team members woke up at 5:00 a.m. to do their warmup. The team assembled a...

Ochiai, Kawamura, Usuki and Mishima Set NR - Golden Week Track Roundup

There was a lot of action on the track over Japan's Golden Week holidays. Highlights: Shizuoka International Meet - Fukuroi, 3 May Men's 800 m NR holder Ko Ochiai (Komazawa Univ.) broke his own record with a 1:43.90 win. Daigo Usuki (18 Ginko) and Gakuto Mishima (Nippatsu) both broke the NR in the T20 men's 400 m, Usuki getting the win in 49.08 and Mishima 2nd in 49.15. Lauren Bruce (New Zealand) threw a meet record 67.44 m on her final attempt in the women's hammer throw, but even her shortest throw of 64.31 m was over 3 m better than the rest of the field. Kazuki Kurokawa (Sumitomo Denko) got the men's 400 mH meet record with a 48.50 for the win. Women's 3000 mSC NR holder Miu Saito (Panasonic) won the steeple in 9:31.83, the 2nd-best time in her career so far, despite falling. 2nd through 4th all broke 10 minutes. National University Men's Ekiden Kanto Region Qualifier - Hiratsuka, 4 May The top 8 teams at November's National University Men...

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

japan running news

Search This Blog