Singh Breaks Indian 5000 m NR to Win Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup

After two days of flight cancelations and delays that ended up with him arriving in Niigata 4.5 hours before the race, Indian men's 5000 m NR holder Gulveer Singh came through with a record-breaking run to win the 5000 m on the first day of the Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup Continental Tour Bronze meet.

Set up as a shot at the 13:08.40 Japanese NR, the race went out with steady 63-second laps with pacing from 10-mile world best holder Benard Koech. After the pack settled out 2024 Komazawa University grad Mebuki Suzuki was at the front behind Koech with this year's Komazawa captain Kotaro Shinohara right with him. When a gap opened Singh moved up from 5th or 6th to go with them.

Koech stepped off at 4000 m leaving Suzuki to lead, Shinohara struggling to hang on and coming back twice after falling off. At the bell Singh went to the front, and with a 55-second last lap he held off Suzuki in the last 100 m to win in 13:11.82, 7 seconds under his old NR. Suzuki ran a PB 13:18.80 for all-time Japanese #9, with Shinohara running 13:15.70, the fastest-ever outdoor 5000 m by a Japanese-born collegiate runner and 10th-fastest ever by a Japanese man, for 3rd.

"I'm very happy," Singh told JRN post-race. "That was better than I was expecting." Disappointed at missing the Japanese record, Suzuki said, "It was OK. I'd give it about an 80%." Celebrating after finishing, Shinohara said, "That was great! Next up Izumo!"

The women's 5000 m was mostly a four-way battle between Hellen Ekarare, Mirriam Cherop, Tabitha Njeri Kamau and Caroline Kariba, Olympian Haruka Kokai the only Japanese woman to try going with them at 3:02-3:03/1000 m but dropping off after a few laps. Ekarare did most of the leading until Cherop made a jab with a move to the front after 3000 m that motivated the others to all take turns surging. But Ekarare had the close to pull away over the last 1000 m for the win in 15:08.51. Cherop was next in 15:13.56 and Njeri 3rd in 15:14.62, with Kokai hanging onto the top Japanese spot at 5th in 15:31.42.

Miriam Njeri of Sendai Ikuei H.S. won the U20 women's 3000 m by over 16 seconds in 9:07.82, with Saki Katagihara taking the 1500 m in 4:15.76 over Korean Yu Jin Kim. Nanako Matsumoto won the 400 m in 52.74. On the field, in her final competition Australia-resident brit Jade Lally won the discus throw for the third year in a row with a 59.77 m on her final attempt. In the absence of NR holder Sumire Hata, Maya Takeuchi won the long jump with a 6.11 m (-1.0) last-round jump, equalling leader Ria Kitada but surpassing her 2nd-best jump at 6.05 m (+0.3) to Kitada's 5.98 m (0.0).

Korean Jong Hak Park outran South Sudanese Olympian Abraham Guem by 0.08 to win the men's 1500 m in 3:41.99, with Ryoto Aoki 3rd in 3:42.34 for top Japanese. 400 m NR holder Kentaro Sato out ran Joseph Nakajima, Fuga Sato and Sri Lankan Kalinga Kumarage for the win in 45.40. Masateru Yugami won the men's discus throw at 58.46 m.

Complete results here. The Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup continues Sunday, with the highlight being the 800 m featuring teenaged NR holders Rin Kubo and Ko Ochiai.

Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field

The Dec. 1 Fukuoka International Marathon is the first of this winter season's big selection races for the home soil team for next year's Tokyo World Championships, and the domestic field is a great one. Kenya Sonota , 2:05:59 in Tokyo last year, and 2:06 men Yusuke Nishiyama , Yuya Yoshida , Kazuya Nishiyama and Daisuke Doi make up the main contenders to get a spot, with internationals Lemeck Too , Jie He , Bethwel Yegon , Vincent Raimoi , last year's winner Michael Githae , and Shaohui Yang perfectly positioned to add momentum to the shot at the 2:06:30 Worlds standard that they'll all be taking. 8 other Japanese men in the 2:07 to 2:09 range make it one of the most competitive Fukuoka editions in a long, long time. Last year Githae outkicked Yang by 1 second to win 2:07:08 to 2:07:09, Yang with a Chinese NR that was broken a few months later by He in Wuxi. Chinese men's marathoning has momentum right now too, and it wouldn't be surprising to see either He

Ayaka Suzuki, Younger Sister of Olympic Marathoner Yuka Suzuki, Faces Final East Japan Women's Ekiden

The final edition of the East Japan Women's Ekiden takes place Nov. 10. 18 teams representing the eastern prefectures will bring high-level women's competition to the streets of Fukushima. Getting attention on the Akita team is Ayaka Suzuki , the younger sister of Paris Olympics marathon 6th-placer Yuka Suzuki . Ayaka is a 3rd-year at Akita's Omagari H.S. She began running seriously after entering high school, citing her sister's influence. "When I saw her winning her stages and helping her team in university ekidens, I thought that I might be able to do the same and decided to give it a try," she said. Before her excellent run at the Paris Olympics Yuka ran the East Japan Women's Ekiden 3 times, inspiring others as she went from a young athlete to one of the best in the world. "I was surprised that she was competitive at that level," said Ayaka. "When I saw how strong she was running it really moved me." In junior high school Ayaka w

Saku Chosei High School's Hamaguchi Runs 13:31.62 at Nittai

2023 National High School Ekiden champion Saku Chosei H.S. was out in force Sunday in the 5000 m fast heats at the 317th Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama. 3rd-year Yamato Hamaguchi ran 13:31.62, the 4th-fastest time ever by a Japanese-born high schooler, and 3rd-year Tetsu Sasaki went under 14 minutes for the first time with an excellent 13:40.02. The race took place as light rain fell. Hamaguchi and Sasaki ran alongside African university and corporate league runners. From the start they were conservative, staying in the pack as the race went along. With splits of 2:42 and 1000 m and 8:11 at 3000 m the high school record of 13:22.99 set 2 years ago by Saku Chosei alum Hiroto Yoshioka was out of reach, but right til the last sprint Hamaguchi stayed in contact with the lead. Hamaguchi took almost 7 seconds off his 13:38.40 PB from last year, with Sasaki rewriting his 14:03.51 best by nearly 24 seconds. Both beat Yamanashi Gakuin H.S. 2nd-year Felix Muthiani , who ran

japan running news

Search This Blog