Hironaka Breaks 5000 m Junior National Record and 2020 Olympic Standard

Just two weeks after her 19th birthday, Ririka Hironaka, star rookie for 2019 National Corporate Women's Ekiden champions Japan Post, ended the year in style with a nearly 18-second PB of 15:05.40 to break the great Kayoko Fukushi's U20 national record by 5 seconds and become just the second Japanese woman so far to break the 2020 Olympic standard in the 5000 m.

Running at Yamaguchi's National Corporate Women's Time Trials, after Kenyans Martha Mokaya (Canon AC Kyushu) and Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) led the pack through opening splits of 3:01, 3:04 and 3:03, Hironaka took off in pursuit of the 15:10.00 Olympic standard, covering the next two 1000 m splits in 2:59 and 2:58. Along with breaking Fukushi's 2001-era junior record and clearing the Olympic standard, Hironaka moved up to all-time Japanese #5, following Nozomi Tanaka's all-time #2 15:00.01 at October's Doha World Championships to make this a pretty good year for the 5000 m by Japanese women's standards. With Fukushi's senior national record standing at 14:53.22 it won't be surprising to see either Hironaka or Tanaka go for it in 2020.

The women's 10000 m came up just short of the 31:25.00 Olympic standard but still produced good results across the board. Kenyan Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) took the top spot in 31:28.45 with teammate Harumi Okamoto next in 31:29.29. Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) continued her comeback from September's MGC Race Olympic marathon trials with a 3rd-place finish in 31:34.56, a PB by 15 seconds. In 4th, Daito Bunka University 1st-year Yuka Suzuki ran a PB 31:37.88, the 2nd-fastest Japanese collegiate time ever, to add to her 2019 World University Games half marathon gold medal. After a year mostly marked by setbacks, Yuka Hori (Panasonic) wrapped it with a 10-second PB of 31:38.63 for 5th.

5000 m year-leader Tanaka opted to pace teammate Yume Goto (Toyota Jidoshokki TC) in the 3000 m, putting her on track for a 9:05.17 season best before kicking away for the win in 9:01.55. Tanaka plans to race January's National Women's Ekiden before representing Japan at February's Asian Indoor Championships.

National Corporate Women's Time Trials

Yamaguchi, 12/7/19
complete results

Women's 5000 m Heat 3
1. Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) - 15:05.40 - U20 NR
2. Martha Mokaya (Canon AC Kyushu) - 15:13.07
3. Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:14.21
4. Tomoka Kimura (Shiseido) - 15:32.93
5. Kaede Hagitani (Edion) - 15:37.98
6. Shino Hasegawa (Wacoal) - 15:38.13
7. Akane Ogasawara (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:46.68
8. Juri Ichikawa (Yamada Denki) - 15:46.89
9. Mikuni Yada (Denso) - 15:47.31
10. Misaki Hayashida (Kyudenko) - 15:48.31

Women's 10000 m Heat 2
1. Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 31:28.45
2. Harumi Okamoto (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 31:29.29
3. Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) - 31:34.56 - PB
4. Yuka Suzuki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 31:37.88 - PB
5. Yuka Hori (Panasonic) - 31:38.63 - PB
6. Ayumi Hagiwara (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 31:59.47
7. Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada Denki) - 32:02.36
8. Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) - 32:05.90
9. Ai Hosoda (Daihatsu) - 32:06.34
10. Natsuki Sekiya (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 32:08.44

Women's 3000 m Heat 1
1. Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki TC) - 9:01.55
2. Yume Goto (Toyota Jidoshokki TC) - 9:05.17
3. Miyaka Sugata (Japan Post) - 9:26.45
4. Eijia MIyagi (Yamada Denki) - 9:37.17
5. Koto Hiramura (Daiso) - 9:51.22

photo © 2019 M. Kawaguchi, all rights reserved
text © 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Goshima and Kasai Win 10000 m National Titles, Maeda Breaks U20 Asian Record

Rino Goshima and Jun Kasai stepped up with PBs to win the 2024 National Championships 10000 m titles Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. In the women's race, Goshima, 4th in last December's 2023 National Championships 10000 m, went out front from the start with Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich pacing and 2023 3rd-placer Haruka Kokai in tow. Things were never on track to hit the 30:40.00 Paris Olympics standard, but except for a brief dip to 3:08 at 7000 m Goshima held steady at 3:05 to 3:06/km even as Kokai and Jepngetich fell off. With blood dripping from her left knee after getting spiked by Jepngetich, Goshima closed in 3:03 to take 5 seconds off her best from December's Nationals and win in 30:53.31, moving up to all-time Japanese #6. Jepngetich also PBd at 31:09.42 without counting in the standings, with Kokai 2nd in 31:10.53 and Kazuna Kanetomo 3rd in a PB 31:59.29. The runner-up last time, Yuka Takashima was last in 33:33.27. The men's race went out in a

10000 m National Championships Preview

Less than five months since the 2023 10000 m National Championships went down at the 2021 Olympic stadium in Tokyo, the 2024 edition happens Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium, with NHK broadcasting it live starting at 19:25 local time. Doubling up on Nationals like this lets Japanese athletes double dip on placing points to try to get into the Paris Olympics on rankings. But between the number of people who've hit the 30:40.00 women's standard and 27:00.00 men's standard and the lopsided eight spots given away to top placers at World XC, there are only four women's spots and three men's available via rankings. Of those, three of the four women's spots and two of the three men's spots are currently occupied by top placers at December's 2023 Nationals, Ririka Hironaka , Haruka Kokai and Rino Goshima for women and Ren Tazawa and Tomoki Ota for men. The 2023 Nationals did get close to the standards, with Hironaka leading the top four women under

Golden Games in Nobeoka Top Results

For everyone not running yesterday's 10000 m National Championships , where the Asahi Kasei corporate team dominated the men's race with four out of four men sub-28 including winner Jun Kasai , 27:17.46, the grand dame of Japan's long distance time trial circuit was happening on AK's home ground in Miyazaki at the Golden Games in Nobeoka . Not including kids' races, a total of 74 women and 227 men ran in 14 heats of 5000 m, with a packed-in crowd of fans lining the track beating on metal sponsor boards with batons. It's a pretty awesome meet, and memorable performances included: National champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. standout Caroline Kariba continued to kill it in the second month of her corporate league career, winning the 5000 m A-heat in 15:00.95 in a race where 3 out of the top 4 including her ran PBs. National champion Meijo University seemed flat at this point in the season, with none of its people under 16 minutes and star Nanase Tanimoto leading

japan running news

Search This Blog