Yamanaka Leads Greatest Women's Steeple in Japanese History - National Track and Field Championships Day Three Highlights

Both 3000 mSC were great, but the women's race was the unexpected highlight of day 3 of the National Track and Field Championships Saturday in Osaka. Tokyo Olympian Yuno Yamanaka (Ehime Ginko) took it out on NR and World Championships qualifying standard pace with a 3:10 first 1000 m despite steady rain, and while it wasn't a surprise to see collegiate record holder Reimi Yoshimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) go with her, relative unknowns Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) and Manami Nishiyama (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo). The next 1000 m was only 3:18, but none of the three could stay with Yamanaka. But even though she closed in 3:10 to win in a meet record 9:38.19, all three closed back on over the last lap. Nishide overcame at least two flubbed jumps to take 2nd in 9:38.95, Nishiyama 3rd in 9:39.28, and Yoshimura 4th in 9:39.86.

The entire group moved up to all-time Japanese 2nd-5th with the NR just 5 seconds away, and even though they were short of the standard at least Yamanaka and possibly Yoshimura look to be in position to make the Oregon team in the quota. But whatever ends up happening to them, all four made it the greatest women's 3000 mSC race in Japanese history.

NR holder Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.) took the men's race out fast, initially tailed by Taisei Ogino (Asahi Kasei) but mostly soloing his way to an 8:14.47 MR and a place on the Oregon team. There was constant turnover in the group behind him, but in the end it was his fellow Tokyo Olympians Ryoma Aoki (Honda) and Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) who took 2nd and 3rd, Aoki getting under the standard in a PB 8:20.09 and Yamaguchi just missing in 8:23.29. 5 others in the top 10 ran PBs, showing that the golden age of Japanese steepling is just getting going. Aoki joins Miura on the Worlds team under the JAAF's selection policy, and with this performance Yamaguchi should move up to the top position in the quota. He'll have 2 more weeks to chase the standard or wait it out.

In the men's 400 mH final, favorite Kazuki Kurokawa (Hosei Univ.) dipped under the Worlds standard with a 48.89 for the win despite the rainy conditions, securing his place in Oregon. Darkhorse Hiroya Kawagoe (Jaws) ran a PB 49.72 for 2nd, knocking Worlds team contenders Masaki Toyoda (Fujitsu) and Takayuki Kishimoto (Fujitsu) back to 3rd and 4th in 49.85 and 49.99. Toyoda will likely still make the quota, but not making top 3 may be enough to keep Kishimoto home.

In the women's 100 mH final, NR holder Masumi Aoki's bizarre decision to double in the 100 m final less than an hour after 100 mH semifinals last night might have cost her a place on the Worlds team. Aoki was ranked 36th out of 40 in the quota pre-race and needed every point she could get in her main event at Nationals, but in the final she was beaten by 48th-ranked Mako Fukube (NKK) 13.10 (+0.8) to 13.28. Either of them could still squeeze into the quota, but it's hard to see what Aoki stood to gain by risking what was an almost certain win in the 100 mH final by tiring herself out with the double a day earlier.

The favorite in the men's pole vault, Seito Yamamoto (Toyota) failed to clear any height and finished with a NM, likely enough for him to lose his 30th-ranked position in the 32-deep Worlds quota. 33-ranked Masaki Ejima (Fujitsu) stepped up to clear 5.60 m for the win, putting himself into the quota and knocking Yamamoto one step further down. Top-ranked women's triple jumper Mariko Morimoto (Uchida Kensetsu AC) jumped a PB 13.58 m (+0.0) for the win, with Akari Funada (Mukogawa Joshi Univ.) also turning a PB of 13.46 m for 2nd.

The rain prevented any really big throws in the women's javelin, but for the first time ever 3 women threw over 60 m at Nationals. NR holder Haruka Kitaguchi (JAL) took the top spot at 61.25 m, Momone Ueda (Zenrin) next at 61.20 m and Sae Takemoto (Saga Sports Assoc.) 3rd at 60.84 m. All 3 were already in the Worlds quota at 19th, 27th and 31st of 32, and these performances were exactly what they needed to stay in contention.

Complete results available here.

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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