Skip to main content

Yamaguchi and Hokuriku Kick Off September - Weekend Track Roundup



The powers that be may have decided that there isn't going to be a road season, but September's going to be a busy month on the track in Japan. Just getting in Saturday night ahead of the leading edge of Typhoon #10, the Yamaguchi Nighter Time Trials meet saw Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) take the men's 3000 m in 8:01.87 almost six seconds ahead of teammate Yusuke Tamura. Tosu Kogyo H.S. teammates Sei Sonoda and Junpei Maseda went 3-4 in 8:07.38 and 8:08.21, Sonoda taking the all-time #8 Japanese U20 and #7 Japanese high school marks and Maseda #8 on the high school list.



The 50th Hokuriku Corporate Championships took place Saturday and Sunday in Toyama, rescheduled to this weekend from their original date in the spring. Still going strong all these years later, 2009 World University Games 10000 m gold medalist and 5000 m silver medalist Kasumi Nishihara (Yamada Denki) won the women's 5000 m in a meet record 15:44.55 over teammates Maho Shimizu and Yuri Tasaki. Daisuke Hosomori (YKK) took the men's 5000 m title in 14:15.63 on Sunday a day after running 29:41.74 for 2nd behind winning teammate Vincent Kipkemoi in the men's 10000 m. Men's 800 m national record holder Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki) had a decent day, winning in 1:47.30 by more than a second.



Looking ahead, next weekend has the National University Track and Field Championships in Niigata. A week later it's the National Corporate Track and Field Championships in Saitama, followed up the last weekend of September by the rescheduled regional Kansai and Chugoku Corporate Track and Field Championships in Osaka and Hiroshima. Those will be the lead-in to the non-distance event National Track and Field Championships the first weekend of October back in Niigata.

© 2020 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...
1 comment
Read more

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
12 comments
Read more

Tokai University Installs 325-LED Electronic Pacing Light System at Home Track

On Apr. 14 the Tokai University track and field team and Faculty of Engineering announced that in March they had installed an electronic pacing system at the university's home track at its Shonan campus. The pacing system involved LED lights placed around the edge of the track, which light up sequentially based on the set pace. It is the first time in Japan that this kind of system developed by a domestic manufacturer has been permanently installed at a track. LED pacing systems are used internationally at Diamond League meets and high-level time trial races. Domestically they have been introduced at events like the National Championships 10000 m, Hokuren Distance Challenge and Hachioji Long Distance meets. They have become popular with fans for adding color to the visual presentation of the race and for making it easier to follow the pace of the race. Tokai University began plans to develop and permanently install an electronic pacing system two years ago. The system was develope...
1 comment
Read more