Kimunyan Runs World-Leading 10000 m at Nittai

Kimunyan Runs World-Leading 10000 m at Nittai - Weekend Track Roundup

The IAAF may have unilaterally declared the long distance track season over last week, but in Japan autumn track is in full swing as athletes at all levels prepare for championship ekiden season.

The biggest race of the weekend was the men's 10000 m A-heat at Yokohama's Nittai University Time Trials. Richard Kimunyan (Hitachi Butsuryu) led a small group including 2014 Commonwealth Games 5000 m gold medalist Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) out at a steady pace around 27:10. By halfway Kimunyan was alone but still rock steady with a 13:35 split.

From 7000 m on he slowed gradually toward the 27:19.62 world-leading time run by Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) at this year's Commonwealth Games, but with a hard kick over the last lap Kimunyan crossed the line 5 seconds up on Cheptegei's mark in 27:14.70, a PB by 38 seconds. Ndiku also got under 28 minutes in 27:50.38. Half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) was the top Japanese man in 28:11.25, continuing to round back into good shape ahead of next month's Ageo City Half Marathon.

Yuki Ishii (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) won the B-heat in 28:50.48, a rare sub-29 by a collegiate runner from outside the Kanto Region. 1500 m world junior record holder Ronald Kwemoi (Komori Corp.) won the 5000 m A-heat in 13:19.86. Kenyans took the top 14 spots, with 10000 m national record holder Kota Murayama (Asahi Kasei) the fastest Japanese man at 13:45.10 for 15th.

Toyota Jidoshokki teammates Helen Ekarare and Ann Karindi went 1-2 in the Nittai women's 5000 m A-heat in 15:19.59 and 15:40.42, Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada Denki) 3rd in 15:40.56 to squeeze into the year's top 25 Japanese women's list. Kaede Hagitani (Nagano Higashi H.S.) won the women's 3000 m A-heat in 9:17.33 with teammates Narumi Kobayashi and Izumi Takamatsu running 9:18.59 and 9:18.64.

Even faster women's 5000 m times came at the Challenge Games in Oita Dome meet far to the south in Oita. In a regional showdown of Kenyan high schoolers, first-years Teresa Musso (Sera H.S.) and Cynthia Baire (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) outran third-years Martha Mokaya (Oita Tomei H.S.), Tabitha Kamau (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) and Naomi Musso (Sera H.S.) to take the top two spots in 15:13.89 and 15:15.35. Mokaya and Kamau were 3rd and 4th in 15:15.89 and 15:20.52, all four of them breaking the meet record. No Japanese women cleared 16 minutes, Ayari Harada (Daiichi Seimei) finishing 6th in 16:00.53. Olympic medalist Paul Tanui (Kyudenko) won the men's 5000 m A-heat over junior teammate Bernard Koech 13:36.97 to 13:37.39, with Hazuma Hattori (Toenec) the first Japanese man at 4th in 13:54.13.

Another regional showdown happened just to the northwest in Fukuoka, where Ethiopian Tulu Merga (Yasukawa Denki) outran teammate Abayneh Degu and Kenyan Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) to win the Soshigaya Time Trials 5000 m A-heat in 13:24.65. All three cleared 13:30, Mwaura 2nd in 13:26.38 and Degu next in 13:29.65. Naoya Takahashi (Yasukawa Denki) was the top Japanese man at 4th in 13:54.44, while Jakarta Asian Games marathon 4th-placer Hayato Sonoda (Kurosaki Harima) struggled, placing 20th in 14:22.47.

The fastest women's 3000 m of the weekend came at Saitama's Heisei Kokusai University Time Trials, where Veronica Marsha (Niigata Sangyo Prep H.S.) won in 9:13.98. The locally-based GMO and Subaru corporate men's teams and Toyo University all ran Heisei Kokusai, with Kyoto's Ritsumeikan University opting for whatever reason to join them instead of running the closer Nittai. Hiroki Yamagishi (GMO) won the 10000 m A-heat in 29:04.60, with three Ritsumeikan runners going under 29:30. Shohei Kurata (GMO) took the 5000 m A-heat in 14:03.79, beating Ethiopian newcomer Dejene Tesfarem Weldo (Seisa Kokusai H.S.) by 0.02.

Japan's fall track season continues on through December. Look for late November's Hachioji Long Distance meet to produce more of the year's top 10000 m times. Entries are still open.

© 2018 Brett Larner

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