Fast Times from Mbuthye and Yego in Saturday Track Action

Saturday was the first full day of the Japanese outdoor track season with two large time trial meets and university intramurals across the country. The top marks of the day came over 3000 m at Tokyo's Setagaya Time Trials meet. In the women's A-heat Japan-based Kenyan Grace Mbuthye (Starts) won in 8:58.55, while another Japan-based Kenyan Evans Yego (Sunbelx) took the men's A-heat in 7:58.50. Both times were the 2nd-fastest outdoor marks in the world so far this season. Other notable marks:

Kei Fumimoto (Kanebo) turned in the fastest Japanese time of the day at 8:06.95 for 4th in the A-heat.
Junior high school 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m national record holder Kosuke Ishida made his high school debut in the C-heat running for Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S., finishing 3rd in 8:22.85, about 5 seconds off his best.
After taking 7th at last month's NYC Half, 2017 World University Games half marathon gold medalist Kei Katanishi (Komazawa Univ.) got back into action, warming up with an 8:29.41 in the D-heat before winning the C-heat in 8:16.77. See the video above for Katanishi and Ishida in action.
Hakone Ekiden star turned marathoner Daichi Kamino (Konica Minolta) and 2020 Olympic Trials marathon qualifier Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) also got back into action, Kamino winning the D-heat in 8:19.44 and Nakamura running 8:18.67 for 16th in the A-heat.

At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet the main focus was on the 5000 m. Kenyan high schooler Philemon Kiplagat (Kurashiki H.S.) led the way with a 13:37.12 to win the A-heat, just faster than the 13:37.86 run by all-Kenyan B-heat winner Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima). Takanori Ichikawa (Hitachi Butsuryu) ran the fastest Japanese time so far this year, 13:42.70 for 4th in the A-heat. Another 2020 Olympic Trials marathon qualifier, Yuki Sato (Nissin Shokuhin) ran 13:53.54 for 8th.

In the women's 5000 m A-heat, Helen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) won by 10 seconds in 15:29.67 ahead of Ethiopian newcomer Husan Zeyituna (Denso). 2:21 marathoner Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), yet another 2020 Olympic Trials marathon qualifier, ran her first race since January's Osaka International Women's Marathon, taking 3rd in 15:45.86.

The women's 1500 m at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet had two interesting races. In Heat 1, sisters Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Meijo Univ.) and Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka T&F Assoc.) went 1-2, Tomomi taking the top spot at 4:22.10 in her university debut and former Nike Oregon Project runner Nozomi 2nd in 4:22.50. In Heat 2, pro Tomoka Kimura (Universal Entertainment) outkicked last year's #1 ranked high school Nozomi Tanaka (ND28 AC) to win in 4:22.74. Making her debut as a club runner post-graduation, Tanaka rook 2nd in 4:24.02.

Setagaya video by onychop
Kanaguri Memorial videos by tuyoshi55244

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Queens Ekiden Streaming and Preview

Sunday is the first big race of championship ekiden season, the Queens Ekiden in Sendai, the season-ending national championship for corporate women. 24 teams race 42.195 km in 6 legs, with the top 8 scoring places for 2025. TBS' live nationwide broadcast starts at 11:50, with multi-camera streaming on Youtube above. Last year Sekisui Kagaku won by almost a minute and a half, and with Paris Olympian Yuma Yamamoto , 2023 World Championships marathoner Sayaka Sato on its entry list and collegiate 1500 m record holder Mizuki Michishita having come on board this season it looks like a contender for another win. But last year's runner-up Japan Post got a big boost this season with the addition of its first non-Japanese member, two-time double 1500 m and 3000 m high school champion Caroline Kariba . The Queens Ekiden limits non-Japanese athletes to a 3.8 km leg, so it'd be tough for Kariba to bridge a 1:25 gap by herself with that little ground to work with. But what she can

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