Karoki Under 27:10 Again - Weekend Track Roundup

A typhoon passing to the south brought rain and wind to most of the country throughout the weekend, but with what's left of ekiden season getting off the ground next weekend there were a million high-level meets across the country.

None higher-level than Friday's Chubu Corporate Track and Field Championships, where Bedan Karoki (Toyota) turned in his second sub-27:10 clocking in the last three weeks, winning the men's 10000 m A-heat in 27:08.91. 19-year-old Philemon Kiplagat (Aisan Kogyo) was 2nd in 27:46.67, the first sub-28 by a junior this year. Five other men were under 28 in the same heat, including first-timers Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota) and Daiji Kawai (Toenec). A total of 44 men were under 29 minutes between all three heats.

Victor Korir Kipkirui (GMO) took the top spot in the men's 10000 m A-heat at Saturday's Track Games in Tokorozawa, a quad meet between Waseda University, Meiji University, Toyo University and Soka University with some GMO corporate interlopers. Kipkirui ran 28:09.07 to beat teammate Yuya Yoshida by exactly 10 seconds, with Waseda's Yuhi Nakaya 3rd in 28:19.27. Hideto Konde (Meiji Univ.) led the men's 5000 m A-heat in a PB 13:46.56.

Out in the wildlands of Chiba Sunday, Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu), twin brother of iconoclastic former half marathon and marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara had a solid win in the Juntendo University Time Trials men's 10000 m, taking the top spot by over 10 seconds in 28:28.04.

Sunday's Nagasaki Nighter Time Trials meet saw some fast times in the women's 10000 m, with Rika Kaseda (Meijo Univ.) running 32:04.99 for the win over Ethiopian Husan Zeyituna (Denso) and teammate Mikuni Yada (Denso), who clocked 32:07.79 and 32:09.12. Sad to say, every runner in the race except last-place finisher Yuri Nozoe (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) was wearing non-regulation shoes. The call of the shoes was strong in the women's 5000 m A-heat too, with Kenyans Cynthia Baire (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) in an extra-cushioned photo finish, 15:11.29 to 15:11.30 for Bairu. 3rd placer Yuna Wada (Meijo Univ.) was the top runner in legal shoes at 15:40.93. Baire's teammate Miyu Kubo was legit in the 3000 m with a 9:06.22 for the win over Kenyan Marta Mokaya (Canon), 2nd in 9:07.44, and teammate Runa Nakasu, 3rd in 9:08.61 and all in clean shoes.

Nagasaki men's 10000 m A-heat winner Benard Koech (Kyudenko) dropped a solid 27:31.13 to beat Cleophas Kandie (Mitsubishi Juko) by over 35 seconds. 2:06 marathoner Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) was the top Japanese man at 4th in 28:28.41. Silas Kingori (Hiramatsu Byoin) took the 5000 m A-heat in 13:43.43, where the biggest news was a 13:48.59 for 3rd by Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S. senior Kanta Tokumaru.

Against the backdrop of all this distance action happening across the country, the sprints, hurdles, middle distances, jumps and throws component of the Kanto Region University Championships also happened Friday through Sunday at Kanagawa's Sagamihara Gion Stadium. Rescheduled from the spring, coming right after the rescheduled National Championships and hit by the edge of the typhoon, performances suffered a bit. There wasn't a single meet record across D1 and D2 men's and women's events, or even anything close. Well, the women's sprints were close, but only with massive tailwinds of +3.7 in the 100 m and +4.8 in the 200 m.

Hibiki Obara (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) did pull on a mini-coup in the D2 3000 mSC when he was almost 10 seconds faster than D1 winner Shunya Morishita (Juntendo Univ.) in 8:56.48. The highlight of the meet, at least from an entertainment standpoint, though, was the D2 men's high jump. With the tough conditions hitting a peak only one competitor, Shobi Gakuen Univ. 1st-year Yasunobu Shimomura, made it over any height. Shimomura cleared the opening height of 1.95 m on his third attempt, with all ten of his competitors failing to get over. Post-race Shimomura tweeted, "I've never seen results like these before!"

Long distance events for the Kanto Regionals meet happen later this month in Tokyo.

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that Sis

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el

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