Australia and Kenya Dominate at Fst in Fukuoka Mile and 5k

After a day of heavy rain conditions were pretty close to ideal for the 2nd edition of The Fst in Fukuoka road mile and 5 km, an appetizer event ahead of Sunday's mass participation Fukuoka Marathon. In her Japanese debut Australia's Sarah Billings had an easy win in the women's mile, outclassing Mami Yamaguchi (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ) 4:48 to 4:59. Stewart McSweyn made it an Aussie double with a win in the men's mile in a much closer race, running 4:02 with domestic favorites Masato Saiki (Fujisan no Meisui) and Yusuke Takahashi (Hokkaido Univ.) going 2-3 in 4:04 and 4:08.

The women's 5 km was the most competitive of the day, with a tight pack of 5 Japan-based Kenyans that whittled down to just last year's winner Teresiah Muthoni (Daiso), corporate half marathon champ Dolphine Omare (U.S.E.) and 2023 World XC relay gold medalist Mirriam Cherop (Shin Nihon Jusetsu) with a km to go. Muthoni kicked away over the last 200 m to take the win in 15:35, with Omare just edging Cherop by a second for 2nd, 15:40 to 15:41. Post-race Muthoni did her winning interview on the podium in extremely impressive Japanese.

The men's 5 km saw a similar pack, in its case including former half marathon and marathon Japanese NR holder Yuta Shitara (Nishitetsu). That shook down to just 10 mile world best holder Benard Koech (Kyudenko) and newcomer Edwin Kisalsak, 9th on the competitive 2nd leg at last weekend's East Japan Corporate Ekiden to help the Fujisan no Meisui team qualify for the New Year Ekiden in its first appearance. It came down to a photo finish, both men clocking 13:28 but Kisalsak scoring the win. Shitara ended up 6th in 14:19.

2nd The Fst in Fukuoka

Fukuoka, 11 Nov., 2023

complete results

Women's Mile

1. Sarah Billings (Australia) - 4:48

2. Mami Yamaguchi (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 4:59

3. Kaede Oya (Kentaku Partners) - 5:02

4. Eina Tokura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 5:14

5. Honoka Kajiya (Fukuoka Univ.) - 5:26

Men's Mile

1. Stewart McSweyn (Australia) - 4:02

2. Masato Saiki (Fujisan no Meisui) - 4:04

3. Yusuke Takahashi (Hokkaido Univ.) - 4:08

4. Naoto Katayama (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 4:10

5. Riku Miyase (Hokkaido Univ.) - 4:15

Women's 5 km

1. Teresiah Muthoni (Kenya/Daiso) - 15:35

2. Dolphine Omare (Kenya/U.S.E.) - 15:40

3. Mirriam Cherop (Kenya/Shin Nihon Jusetsu) - 15:41

4. Eva Cherono (Kenya/Toto) - 15:45

5. Rebecca Mwangi (Kenya/Daiso) - 16:09

Men's 5 km

1. Edwin Kisalsak (Kenya/Fujisan no Meisui) - 13:28

2. Benard Koech (Kenya/Kyudenko) - 13:28

3. Nickson Lesiyia (Kenya/Nishitetsu) - 13:48

4. Nelson Mandela (Kenya/Obirin Univ.) - 13:54

5. Takumi Yokokawa (Tokyo T&F Assoc.). 14:03

6. Yuta Shitara (Nishitetsu) - 14:19

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

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