Skip to main content

Anzai Just Misses 1000m National Record at Hokuren Distance Challenge Abashiri Meet

by Brett Larner

Team S&B rookie Aruto Anzai just missed Fumikazu Kobayashi`s men`s 1000 m national record of 2:19.65 at the Hokuren Distance Challenge Abashiri Meet on July 9th. Anzai ran a duel with Team Fujitsu`s Hiroshi Ino, leaving the rest of the field behind and winning in 2:20.43 with Ino 2nd in 2:21.89.

Athens Olympics men`s 10000 m team member Ryuji Ono of Team Asahi Kasei likewise came up short in the 5000 m, landing 2nd behind Kenyan winner John Thuo of Team Toyota Jidosha in 13:32.67. Ono`s mark was well off the Olympic A-standard he needs to have in order to become a last-minute addition to the Beijing Olympic team. His last chance will come in the 10000 m at the Hokuren Distance Challenge Kushiro Meet on July 16.

The Abashiri Meet also included rarely-contested men`s and women`s 600 m races. Ayako Jinnouchi of Saga University won the women`s competition in 1:28.41, while Takeshi Kuchino of Nittai University took the men`s race in 1:16.74.

The Hokuren Distance Challenge continues July 13 in Kitami, Hokkaido. 1500 m national record holder Fumikazu Kobayashi of Team NTN will race have a rematch of his fluke National Track and Field Championships victory over Team NTT Nishi Nihon`s Kazuya Watanabe and Team Chugoku Denryoku`s Yasuhiro Tago as all three make their final attempt to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

Top Finishers
Women`s 600 m
1. Ayako Jinnouchi (Saga Univ.): 1:28.41
2. Heo Jung Yeon (Korea): 1:29.34
3. Miki Nishimura (Self-Defense Force Sports Academy): 1:31.08

Men`s 600 m
1. Takeshi Kuchino (Nittai Univ.): 1:16.74
2. Sung Soo Park (Korea): 1:17.03
3. Masaharu Nakano (Team Otsuka Seiyaku): 1:17.48

Men`s 1000 m
1. Aruto Anzai (Team S&B): 2:20.43
2. Hiroshi Ino (Team Fujitsu): 2:21.89
3. Hiroaki Morikawa (Osaka Police): 2:25.70

Women`s 3000 m
1. Chisa Nishio (Team Starts): 9:09.44
2. Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz): 9:10.04
3. Hitomi Nakamura (Team Panasonic): 9:20.06

Men`s 3000 m
1. Yasunori Murakami (Team Fujitsu): 7:58.28
2. Makoto Fukui (Team Fujitsu): 8:01.24
3. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin): 8:11.46

Women`s 5000 m
1. Chiaki Takagi (Team Starts): 15:42.96
2. Yuka Izumi (Team Tenmaya): 15:46.46
3. Miki Ohira (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo): 15:51.98

Men`s 5000 m A-group
1. John Thuo (Team Toyota): 13:32.02
2. Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei): 13:32.67
3. Martin Waweru (Team Fujitsu): 13:46.77

Men`s 5000 m B-group
1. Atsushi Fujita (Team Fujitsu): 13:54.65
2. Takamasa Uchida (Team Toyota): 13:56.60
3. Kenta Oshima (Team Nissin Shokuhin): 13:59.39

Men`s 5000 m C-group
1. Keizo Maruyama (Team Nissin Shokuin): 14:03.67
2. Keun Tae Yuk (Korea): 14:08.24
3. Yun Ho Shin (Korea): 14:10.00

A complete list of results is available here.

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

On the Loss of the ARRS Database

At some point in the last few months I discovered that both versions of the ARRS database, the static one and the searchable version , are gone. Last week David Monti posted a link to the ARRS history of an event he covered in Race Results Weekly, I guess copying and pasting a link from last year without looking at it, and that reminded me to write something about the loss of the database. The Association of Road Racing Statisticians was basically a one-man show operated from the remote Northern California shores by Ken Young . When the site existed its intro read: The Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS) is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyses and publishes results and statistics regarding elite distance running at distances 3000m and longer...The data of ARRS is stored in the ARRS database, which has more than 1.3 million performances from more than 240,000 races by more than 95,000 elite and sub-elite distance runners worldwide...This website ...

Multiple National Records This Weekend

Olympic and World champion Haruka Kitaguchi got the biggest headlines among Japanese athletes this weekend, overcoming a rough last year and a half that included injury and a coaching change to break her own javelin throw NR by over a meter and a half to win the inaugural WA Ultimate Championship in Budapest. U20 WR and Asian AR holder Ziyi Yan opened with a big 68.05, 0.67 m further than Kitaguchi's best-ever from back in 2023. That could have been the end, but Kitaguchi came back from a 61.15 m first attempt to throw a massive 68.92 m NR on her next one, ultimately enough for the win. She still has a long way to go to match the 18-year-old Yan's 71.74 m from May, but it was a clear statement that Kitaguchi is back. Back home at the National Corporate Track and Field Championships in Kyoto, women's pole vault NR holder Misaki Morota continued a solid comeback season of her own, bettering her NR from May by 1 cm with a 4.51 m on her first attempt. Morota took another 3...

Japan's Team Lineup in Copenhagen

Re-upping an earlier post on Japan's team lineup for this weekend's  Copenhagen World Road Running Championships . The JAAF chose not to name any women to the team in the mile. Women 5 km Kana Mizumoto (Edion) - 15:06.98 Rina Kusu (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:10.91 Half Marathon Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon) - 1:09:14 Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:20 Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:09:22 Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 1:09:23 Men Mile Ojiro Honda (Waseda Univ.) - 3:37.53 (1500 m) Tomoki Nakano (Toenec) - 3:37.92 (1500 m) 5 km Yota Mashiko (Waseda Univ.) - 13:20.35 Rui Suzuki (Waseda Univ.) - 13:20.64 Half Marathon Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:22 Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:26 Neo Namiki (Subaru) - 1:00:29 Daisuke Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 1:00:40 © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved