Skip to main content

Wanjiru and Ndiku Lead Oda Memorial Distance Results



Japan's outdoor season rolled on April 28 with the 52nd Oda Memorial Meet, one of the events used in selection for Japan's national team for this summer's Jakarta Asian Games. Rosemary Monica Wanjiru (Starts) topped the day's results with a 15:08.61 meet record in the Women's Grand Prix 5000 m, easily leaving senior teammate Grace Kimanzi and veteran Ann Karindi (Toyota Jidoshokki) behind to take the top spot.


Dropping a massive PB for 4th, Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) was the first Japanese women in 15:21.31. Longtime readers might remember Yamanouchi as a 17-year-old high schooler from Fukushima casually breaking high school boys' records and running sub-3 marathons for fun. Now 24, she has landed at the Kyocera corporate team under the tutelage of former men's half marathon national record holder and fellow Fukushima native Atsushi Sato. Clearly it's the right place for her.


Current high schooler Naomi Muthoni (Sera H.S.) led the Non-Grand Prix 5000 m in 15:20.14, while first-year Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Meijo Univ.) continued a strong transition to the college circuit as she won the U20 5000 m in 15:45.79.

On the men's side, Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) narrowly edged junior teammate Richard Kimunyan for the Grand Prix 5000 m win in 13:34.46. Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) was the first Japanese man across the line at 3rd in 13:37.24. The great Paul Tanui (Kyudenko) had an off day, finishing 7th in only 13:50.33. Yudai Okamoto (JFE Steel) took the Non-Grand Prix win in 13:52.35.

52nd Oda Memorial Meet Highlights

Hiroshima, 4/28/18
click here for complete results

Women's Grand Prix 5000 m
1. Rosemary Monica Wanjiru (Starts) - 15:08.61 - MR
2. Grace Kimanzi (Starts) - 15:15.65
3. Ann Karindi (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:20.24
4. Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) - 15:21.31
5. Kaori Morita (Panasonic) - 15:34.43
6. Mariam Waithera (Kyudenko) - 15:38.72
7. Natsuki Sekiya (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 15:40.47
8. Yukari Ishizawa (Edion) - 15:41.01
9. Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 15:44.35
10. Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada Denki) - 15:44.48

U20 Women's 5000 m
1. Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Meijo Univ.) - 15:45.79
2. Ririka Hironaka (Nagasaki Shogyo H.S.) - 15:48.82
3. Miku Moribayashi (Denso) - 15:52.58

Women's Non-Grand Prix 5000 m
1. Naomi Muthoni (Sera H.S.) - 15:20.14
2. Tamaki Ichikawa (Yamada Denki) - 15:48.51
3. Yuka Sarumida (Universal Entertainment) - 16:11.98

Men's Grand Prix 5000 m
1. Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:34.46
2. Richard Kimunyan (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:34.86
3. Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) - 13:37.24
4. John Maina (Fujitsu) - 13:38.79
5. Charles Ndirangu (JFE Steel) - 13:43.83
6. Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) - 13:47.58
7. Paul Tanui (Kyudenko) - 13:50.33
8. Yuki Muta (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:52.34
9. Toshiyuki Yanagi (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:57.48
10. Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 14:09.19

Men's Non-Grand Prix 5000 m
1. Yudai Okamoto (JFE Steel) - 13:52.35
2. Rei Hashimoto (Mazda) - 13:57.68
3. Patrick Kimani (JFE Steel) - 13:58.24

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

sonny said…
Looks like no video available for the Men's 5000 Grand Prix. Sad face.
May 1, 2018 at 10:13 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

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
Post a Comment
Read more

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi
Post a Comment
Read more

Shiojiri, Kasai and Tazawa Scratch from Hachioji Long Distance, 5000 m Dropped from Program (updated)

  On Nov. 15 the East Japan Corporate Federation announced that 10000 m national champion and Paris Olympian  Jun Kasai  (Asahi Kasei) and Budapest World Championships team member  Ren Tazawa  (Toyota) have both withdrawn from the 10000 m at the Nov. 23 Hachioji Long Distance meet. This year's Hachioji Long Distance features a special heat set up to target the 27:00.00 qualifying standard for next year's Tokyo World Championships. Along with Kasai and Tazawa, national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri  (Fujitsu) and other top-level Japanese talent are scheduled to compete. After last January's New Year Ekiden , Tazawa sustained an injury that forced him to miss May's National Championships 10000 m and other races including the Paris Olympics. At the end of September he ran 13:36.99 for 5th at the Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup meet, but, he said, "My balance felt off and the back of my left knee hurt." In Kasai's case, after winning the national title in M
Post a Comment
Read more