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Keitany Leads 12 Under 28 Minutes at Hachioji Long Distance Meet, 138 Go Sub-29



Two of the year's biggest 10000 m time trial meets went down in miserably cold and wet conditions Saturday in Tokyo's western and southern suburbs as part of the buildup toward the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden and Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden.

At Hosei University, the Hachioji Long Distance meet saw Evans Keitany (Toyota Boshoku) lead twelve Japan-based Kenyans under 28 minutes in the fastest heat. No Japanese men did it, but sub-61 half marathoner Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) turned in the fastest Japanese time of the weekend with a 28:06.51 PB to win the A-heat. Yusuke Ogura (Yakult) was almost as fast in the B-heat, winning in a PB of 28:08.80. Komazawa University's star first-year Ren Tazawa made an impressive debut in 28:13.21 for 2nd behind Mogi, the fastest collegiate time of the weekend. Special mention to D-heat winner Shoya Kawase (Kogakkan Univ.), and 4th-placer Takato Imai (Ritsumeikan Univ.) whose times of 28:26.37 and 28:31.76 were new regional records for their western Japan home bases.



More university men were at Keio University for the Kanto Region University 10000 m Time Trials meet. Tomoya Nakamura (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) had the fastest time at Keio with a 28:31.68 PB to win Heat 9, just edging Heat 10 winner Taisei Nakamura (Komazawa Univ.), no relation, who won Heat 10 in a PB 28:31.82. Aoyama Gakuin, Komazawa, and Teikyo University, three of the favorites for Hakone, all had multiple PBs among some of their best runners, strengthening their positions against defending champ Tokai University and perpetual top three finisher Toyo University. Between Hachioji and Keio, a total of 138 men broke 29 minutes.

Women's results at Keio were more modest, with Kako Okada (Matsuyama Univ.) winning Heat 2 in 33:13.24 and Hikaru Nozaki (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) taking Heat 1 in 34:02.59. The women's races had more of a national feel to them, with only one runner from a Kanto Region school, Tsukuba University fourth-year Yukina Ueda, making the top five in the faster heat.

Hachioji Long Distance Meet

Hosei University, Tokyo, 11/23/19
complete results

Heat C
1. Evans Keitany (Toyota Boshoku) - 27:46.63
2. Vincent Yegon (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 27:47.76
3. David Ngure (DeNA) - 27:48.22
4. Patrick Mathenge Wambui (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 27:48.56
5. Cleophas Kandie (MHPS) - 27:48.87
6. Enock Omwamba (MHPS) - 27:49.32
7. Wesley Ledama (Subaru) - 27:49.67
8. Benuel Magoma (Asahi Kasei) - 27:51.99
9. Richard Kimunyan (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 27:52.91
10. Amos Kurgat (Chudenko) - 27:53.03
11. Bernard Kibet Koech (Kyudenko) - 27:53.74
12. Muiru Muthoni (Soka Univ.) - 27:55.44

Heat A
1. Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) - 28:06.51
2. Ren Tazawa (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:13.21
3. Daiji Kawai (Toenec) - 28:14.49
4. Shohei Kurata (GMO) - 28:14.62
5. Tatsuya Koike (Toyota Boshoku) - 28:16.37
6. Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota) - 28:16.41
7. Naoki Aiba (Chudenko) - 28:16.76
8. Masato Kikuchi (Konica Minolta) - 28:20.40
9. Tatsuhiko Ito (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 28:26.50
10. Homare Morita (GMO) - 28:29.43

Heat B
1. Yusuke Ogura (Yakult) - 28:08.80
2. Haruki Minatoya (DeNA) - 28:10.92
3. Minato Oishi (Toyota) - 28:11.79
4. Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Konica Minolta) - 28:24.21
5. Kento Kikutani (Toyota Boshoku) - 28:26.55

Heat D
1. Shoya Kawase (Kogakkan Univ.) - 28:26.37
2. Naoya Sakuda (JR Higashi Nihon) - 28:28.92
3. Ren Yonemitsu (Soka Univ.) - 28:30.59
4. Takato Imai (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 28:31.76
5. Hiroki Suzuki (YKK) - 28:32.22

Heat E
1. Eikichi Kazaoka (JFE Steel) - 28:39.95

Heat F
1. Yohei Suzuki (Aisan Kogyo) - 28:46.81

Heat G
1. Kazumasa Asakura (Chosho Kigyo) - 29:02.67

Heat H
1. Ryuji Okada (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 29:02.10

Kanto Region University 10000 m Time Trials

Keio University, Kanagawa, 11/23/19
complete results

Heat 10
1. Taisei Nakamura (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:31.82
2. Hideto Kosode (Meiji Univ.) - 28:34.33
3. Gaku Hoshi (Teikyo Univ.) - 28:35.03
4. Sodai Shimizu (Juntendo Univ.) - 28:39.54
5. Ichitaka Yamashita (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:39.70
6. Kyosuke Teshima (Juntendo Univ.) - 28:40.72
7. Yuto Aoki (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 28:44.01
8. Issei Iwasa (Teikyo Univ.) - 28:46.39
9. Yohei Ikeda (Nittai Univ.) - 28:47.05
10. Kiyoto Suzuki (Meiji Univ.) - 28:48.12

Heat 9
1. Tomoya Nakamura (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 28:31.68
2. Hironori Kishimoto (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 28:32.33
3. Yuya Yoshida (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 28:42.58
4. Keigo Yuhara (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 28:44.99
5. Soshi Suzuki (Waseda Univ.) - 28:48.26

Heat 8
1. Shintaro Kawasaki (Chuo Univ.) - 29:08.56

Heat 12
1. Taira Omori (Chuo Univ.) - 29:09.35

Heat 11
1. Taiki Miyasaka (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 29:10.82

Women's 10000 m Heat 2
1. Kako Okada (Matsuyama Univ.) - 33:13.24
2. Yukina Ueda (Tsukuba Univ.) - 33:19.21
3. Yumika Nagahama (Osaka Geidai Univ.) - 33:45.19
4. Yukari Nakano (Kobe Univ.) - 33:45.85
5. Kaeda Kawamura (Bukkyo Univ.) - 33:46.35

Women's 10000 m Heat 1
1. Hikaru Nozaki (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 34:02.59

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Comments

Geoff said…
A lot of pink and green shoes on the track in the Keio race

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