Highlights From the Inaugural Denka Athletics Challenge Cup

Saturday saw the newest addition to Japan's top-level track circuit with the first edition of the Denka Athletics Challenge Cup in Niigata. Held in one of Japan's biggest stadiums, the 50,000-capacity Denka Big Swan Stadium, the meet was organized by the local Niigata Albirex RC corporate team and conceived of as a chance for people to get in early marks ahead of next year's pre-Tokyo Olympics buildup and for those who might have missed the Doha World Championships earlier this month to get in season-peak performances to do the same.

Despite good weather in days before and after the meet, unlucky rain on the day of the meet meant performances mostly fell short of the hoped-for levels. That didn't stop some quality names domestic and international from taking part. The biggest name among them was Doha women's 800 m gold medalist Halimah Nakaayi (Uganda), who easily held off top Japanese collegian Ayano Shiomi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) for the win in 2:04.73 at the peak of the rain.

4th in the 800 m in Doha, Winnie Nanyondo (Uganda) delivered what was probably the best performance of the day to win the 1500 m, outkicking Japan-based Kenyan Helen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) and Doha 5000 m finalist Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki TC) in the last 100 m for the win in a stadium record 4:08.91. Ekarare was also under the older stadium record in 4:09.31, with Tanaka finishing 3rd in a PB of 4:11.50 to move up to all-Japanese #7 for 1500 m.

3rd in the 5000 m at Nationals in June, first-year corporate runner Ririka Hironaka tried to solo an Olympic qualifying mark in the women's 5000 m. On track through 3000 m, she fell off pace in the second half but still managed a slight PB of 15:23.09 for the win by a margin of 30 seconds. Pacer Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) ran perfectly in the men's 5000 m, going 2:42-2:42-2:43-2:42-2:42 and finishing the race in 13:31.67. Canadian Olympian Luc Bruchet had hoped to go under 13:30 but lost touch with Mutiso in the midst of an all-Kenyan lead pack, ultimately ending up 2nd in 13:47.70 and just holding off a fast-closing Akito Terui (ND Software) who was 3rd in 13:48.91.

Like the women's 1500 m the men's 1500 m came in about 4 seconds off target, 2019 Hakone Ekiden champion Tokai University's star first-year Kazuto Iizawa winning a three-way sprint finish against corporate leaguer Keisuke Morita (Komori Corp.) and teammate Riku Kimura (Tokai Univ.) to take the top spot in 3:42.44.

In spite of the conditions two national records did fall, both in the relatively minor 4x800 m relay. The women's record went first, with a team made up of Ran Urabe, Yuki Hirota, Hana Yamada and Ayano Shiomi clocking 8:41.46. A short time later the men's record went, with Daiki Nemoto, Daichi Setoguchi, Takahiro Hayashi and Jun Mitake running 7:20.34.

Complete results for the first Denka Athletics Challenge Cup can be had here in English. Next year for its second edition the meet will move to an early June date. Organizers hope to see its competition ranking elevated to B in time for its second holding, a step which would make it a valuable pre-Tokyo Olympics opportunity for athletes from around the world. As with the first edition, JRN will again be coordinating the meet's international elite field.

photos © 2019 Ekiden News, all rights reserved
text © 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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