japan running news

by Brett Larner
photos by Mika Tokairin
videos by okukon

Reaching all-time Japanese #3 for 10000 m with a 30:59.19 at the London Olympics, last year's 5000 m women's national champion Hitomi Niiya (Team Universal Ent.) took her first 10000 m national title in aggressive style June 7 at the first day of the Japanese National Track and Field Championships, lapping the entire field as she soloed a meet record 31:06.67 to secure a place on the Moscow World Championships team and earn the #2 spot in the world so far this year, less than two seconds behind Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan's 31:04.85.

Running in the lead pack through 3000 m in 9:32, Niiya dropped a 3:00 split for the fourth km to blow the race apart and go it alone.  Pushing on, she ran alone right on national record pace for the final 7000 m split, picking off the rest of the field one by one and, in the home straight, kicking past eventual 2nd, 3rd and 4th-place finishers Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui…

by Brett Larner

Post-typhoon rain brought in the first day of the 96th Japanese National Track & Field Championships, doubling as the 2012 Olympic Trials, June 8th at Osaka's Nagai Stadium.  The women's 10000 m was the highlight of the day, as five-time 1500 m national champion Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic) tailed favorite Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) all the way to 9000 m before dropping a 2:57 final km to break the 31:45.00 Olympic A-standard for the first time and knock 27 seconds off her PB with a new best of 31:28.71.  Prior to the Trials the Japanese federation indicated that any athlete holding an A-standard mark who won their event would be guaranteed a place on the London team, meaning Yoshikawa became the first athlete to secure her place.  2nd in 31:43.25 just below the A-standard, Fukushi is sure to join her.  A distant 3rd in 32:20.34 as she recovers from wintertime injury, 10000 m junior NR holder Megumi Kinukawa (Mizuno) has a chance of picking up the third…

by Brett Larner


The final day of the 2010 Japanese National University Track and Field Championships wrapped up with some of the best action of the meet's three days. Despite missing its three top-ranked runners Kiragu Njuguna (Kenya/Daiichi Kogyo Univ.), Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.) and Akinobu Murasawa (Tokai Univ.), the men's 5000 m field included 18 men with PBs under 14 minutes. The conditions, 32 degrees, sunny and windy, meant that the race would be slow and allow some of the slower men to have a chance.

With the early leaders taking it out on track for a 14:10, Hiroki Mitsuoka (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) took full advantage of the situation. One of the only men in the field from outside the Kanto region, with just the 15th-best PB in the field, 13:57.67, Mitsuoka patiently waited until the final 800 m to get into the race. With no warning he suddenly kicked from 700 m out and dropped a 59-second 400 m. Pursued partway by Waseda University ace Yo Yazawa, Mitsuoka broke away …