Etir and Hanyu Sub-28, and Fuwa Returns

Etir and Hanyu Sub-28, and Fuwa Returns - Weekend Track Roundup

It was the first really busy weekend of outdoor season in Japan, with the first quality results coming at the season's first Setagaya Time Trials in Tokyo. Collegiate 10000 m record holder Amos Bett (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) ran 27:48.00 for the win in the men's 10000 m fast heat, with Takuya Hanyu (Toyota Boshoku) going under 28 minutes for the second time in his career with in 27:49.78 for 2nd. The winner of last month's National University Half Marathon, Rui Aoki (Koku Gakuin Univ.) ran a PB 28:02.00 for 3rd, barely beating Richard Etir (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) by 0.26.

In the men's 5000 m A-heat, photo finish specialist Edwin Kisalsak (Fujisan no Meisui) did it again, both he and Duncan Maina (Senshu Univ.) clocking 13:38.82 in the men's 5000 m fast heat but Kisalsak getting the win by 0.005 in 13:38.815 to Maina's 13:38.820. Five Koku Gakuin University runners went under 14 minutes led by Kosei Atomura in 13:47.46, with Aoi Ito making a partial comeback from the injury that kept him out of January's Hakone Ekiden with a 13:55.76 that was the fastest of the three Komazawa University men to go under 14.

Honda teammates Shota Nakano and Hideo Kosode went 1-2 in the men's 3000 m fast heat in another photo finish, 7:55.43 to 7:55.48, with runners from the Kao corporate team taking the next five spots all between 8:03.86 and 8:08.99. Marathoner Mao Uesugi made her debut with new team Tokyo Metro, winning the women's 3000 m in 9:21.66. Keigo Yuhara (Komori Corp.) won yet another close race in the men's 1500 m fast heat, running 3:46.61 with 2nd-placer Ren Yonemitsu (Konica Minolta) in 3:46.69.

Across town at the Kizuna Time Trials in Machida, Hiroki Wakabayashi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) ran a solo 28:48.10 10000 m with pacing from Hakone Ekiden Third Stage winner Aoi Ota and, in his debut in the AGU uniform, 13:28 high schooler Sota Orita. AGU runners took pretty much everything, with Kosei Yamaguchi taking the 5000 m fast heat in 13:44.25, Akimu Nomura the B-heat in 14:03.98, Hakone Second Stage winner Asahi Kuroda the 3000 mSC fast heat in 8:42.46, and Hikaru Ogawara both the 1500 m in 3:47.76 and the 800 m in 1:54.44.

At the Kokushikan University Time Trials, women's 10000 m collegiate record holder Seira Fuwa (Takushoku Univ.) ran her first race since October, 2022. In a mixed 5000 m Fuwa clocked 16:32.92, clearing the qualifying standard for May's Kanto Regionals by over 37 seconds. Fuwa sustained an Achilles tendon injury in January, 2022 after doing multiple ekidens in the weeks after her 30:45.21 collegiate record in December, 2021, and after making a brief comeback in the fall of 2022 suffered a stress fracture that kept her out of the 2023 season.

At the Tokyo Big 6 collegiate meet at Yokohama's Keio University, Waseda University's Junpei Maseda took the men's 5000 m in 13:55.61 over Takuma Akiyoshi (Tokyo University), the only other runner under 14 minutes at 13:56.76. Keio's Rikuto Yasuda won the 3000 mSC in 8:47.04, with Waseda's Nayab Naoki Yoshikura taking the 1500 m in 3:48.60.

At the Kanto Region 7 Private University Meet in Saitama, Mashu Nomura (Toyo Univ.) ran a meet record 13:50.46 to win the men's 5000 m, Stephen Lemayan (Surugadai Univ.) taking 2nd in 13:52.75 and Itsuki Hirabayashi (Josai Univ.) 3rd in 13:53.14. Toyo took the top spot in the men's 3000 m too with Ryota Kobayashi running 8:00.89 for a close win over Shoya Saito (Josai Univ.) and Kyohei Oda (Daito Bunka Univ.). Shuto Iguchi (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) won the 1500 m in 3:49.18.

Ichiyama 8th at Copenhagen Marathon

Currently the #10-ranked Japanese man in the marathon with the fastest-ever domestic time at the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) made his international debut at Sunday's Copenhagen Marathon , literally an international debut as it was his first time outside the country. Ichiyama hoped to be in contention to break the 2:08:23 CR and go for the win, and with cool and breezy conditions ran easy in the lead group through 30 km. But something ate away at almost everyone as time went by, several people in the lead men's and women's groups saying humidity, and past 30 km Ichiyama fell off. Falling as low as 9th, he rallied after 40 km to finish 8th in 2:13:07. "It was different than in Japanese races," he said. "I'm used to bigger packs and more even pacing, but this was a kind of racing I hadn't done before. There's a lot to think about. I didn't feel like I was sweating a lot, but I got really thirsty and started sk

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

Wanjiru Breaks Own MR, Fuwa and Ishida Return - Kanto Regionals Day 1 Highlights

Japan's best college meet kicked off Thursday at Tokyo's National Stadium at the 103rd Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships . Looking like she was doing a controlled tempo run, 2nd-yr Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) lapped the entire field to win the women's 10000 m in a meet record 32:02.87, almost 15 seconds under the record she last year in her debut. 3rd-yr Aoi Takahashi (Josai Univ.) was 2nd in 33:29.22 and 2nd-yr Nana Nagashima (Josai Kokusai Univ.) 3rd in a PB 33:30.28, but the other main news alongside Wanjiru's new record was the return of collegiate 10000 m record holder Seira Fuwa (Takushoku Univ.) in her first 10000 m in 19 months. Fuwa hung at the back of the chase pack for the first half, made a move to lead it in the second half, and ultimately faded to 9th in 33:40.20. Every comeback has to start somewhere. The D1 men's 10000 m had a tight group up front with the top 6 all finishing within 6 seconds and under 28:10. 3rd-yr Jam

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