by Brett Larner
Two weeks after becoming the first man to break 27 minutes for 10000 m on Japanese soil at the May 3 Shizuoka International meet, Kenyan Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) repeated the feat in gusty winds on the first day of the East Japan Jitsugyodan Track and Field Meet in Yamagata Prefecture, clocking a meet record of 26:58.40. Ndambiri now holds the two fastest times in the world so far this year for 10000 m. Runner-up Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) just missed out on breaking 27 minutes, running a 10 second PB of 27:01.83 and likewise going under the meet record.
Ngatuny faced tougher conditions of rain and wind the next day in the 5000 m and again came up 2nd in 13:19.41. He was beaten out by Ethiopian Yacob Jarso (Team Honda), whose winning time of 13:19.20 was both a PB and a new meet record. As in the 10000 m Ngatuny had the consolation of also being under the previous meet record. His new teammate Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin), just back from racing in California, set the Japanese-born runner meet record of 13:38.31 as he came in 4th.
The East Japan meet was one of six major corporate meets across the country on May 16-17. While Ndambiri and Jarso's marks were two of the weekend's highlights, among other moments high and low in the distance events nationwide:
-2007 World Championships men's 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Team Suzuki), who joined Josephat Ndambiri in breaking 27 minutes two weeks ago in Shizuoka, could not run up to Ndambiri's par this time in the Chubu Jitsugyodan meet as he finished 2nd in 27:42.06 with winner John Thuo (Team Toyota) beating him by the slimmest of margins, 0.01 of a second. 4th place finisher Yusei Nakao (Team Toyota Boshoku) set a new Japanese-born athlete meet record of 28:13.77.
-Hiroyoshi Umegae (Team NTN) set a meet record and PB of 8:36.36 in the men's 3000 mSC at the Chubu meet. It was a good weekend all around for the men's steeplechase as Takayuki Matsuura set a meet record of 8:39.34 in the Kansai Jitsugyodan meet men's 3000 mSC, beating former national champion Jun Shinoto (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko). Matsuura was also 3rd in the 1500 m. Matsuura, Yuki Matsuoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku), Yasuhito Ikeda (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) and Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) virtually controlled the Japanese-only meet, with each of the four athletes finishing in the top three of at least two different distance events.
-2009 New Year Ekiden winner Team Fujitsu completed a near-sweep of the men's short and middle distance events, its athletes taking 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 110 mH and 3000 mSC. And the high jump. Only Kenyan Jonathan Ndiku (Team Hitachi) prevented a full sweep by beating Fujitsu's Yasunori Murakami in the 1500 m. Fujitsu's Olympic 4 x 100 m relay bronze medalist Naoki Tsukahara set a meet record of 10.15 in the 100 m.
-Joseph Gitau (Team JFE Steel) and Peter Kariuki (Team Mazda) went 1-2 in both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Chugoku Jitsugyodan meet. Danielle Filomena Cheyech (Team Uniqlo) came back from setting a meet record and PB of 15:19.47 in the women's 5000 m to win the 10000 m by over a minute. Beijing Olympics marathoner Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) was 2nd in both the 5000 m and 1500 m.
-Philes Ongori (Team Hokuren) re-established her dominance among African pros in Japan with a double win over Doricah Obare (Team Hitachi) in the East Japan 1500 m and 5000 m. While she lost both races, Obare's 1500 m time of 4:15.63 was a PB and her 5000 m mark of 15:21.12 was only 0.04 seconds off her best. A battle between Ongori and Cheyech looks inevitable.
-Although her times were unremarkable, 5000 m national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) returned from plantar fasciitis woes to win both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kansai meet.
-Two-time junior 10000 m national record holder Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) also came back from injury and made a season debut of sorts in the 5000 m. Kinukawa is widely hoped to be The Future of Japanese Women's Distance Running but has been incredibly injury-prone since contracting a mystery virus and missing almost all of 2008. She appeared from out of thin air last fall to beat Fukushi and break her own junior 10000 m record, then in January sustained an Achilles tendon injury which has kept her completely out of training. In the East Japan 5000 m she came last in a baffling 17:54.97.
-Alarm bells began to sound as 2009 World Championships women's marathon medal favorite Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) pulled out of the 5000 m and 10000 m due to an injury she sustained training in Kunming, China earlier in the season. It was at least the third time she has pulled out of a race this spring, and each time the evocation of Mizuki Noguchi's pre-Beijing season grows stronger.
-In Shibui's absence, the best result among the members of Japan's 2009 World Championships marathon team belonged to men's team member Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko). Maeda ran his first race since qualifying for the team at March's Tokyo Marathon, winning the 10000 m at the Kyushu Jitsugyodan meet in 28:35.59. Women's team member Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) was 5th in the East Japan 10000 m in 33:03.11, while the women's team alternate Tomo Morimoto (Team Tenmaya), running unofficially, came 2nd in the Chugoku 10000 m in 33:40.00.
More detailed lists of the top finishers including links to complete results from each meet are available here.
(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Two weeks after becoming the first man to break 27 minutes for 10000 m on Japanese soil at the May 3 Shizuoka International meet, Kenyan Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) repeated the feat in gusty winds on the first day of the East Japan Jitsugyodan Track and Field Meet in Yamagata Prefecture, clocking a meet record of 26:58.40. Ndambiri now holds the two fastest times in the world so far this year for 10000 m. Runner-up Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) just missed out on breaking 27 minutes, running a 10 second PB of 27:01.83 and likewise going under the meet record.
Ngatuny faced tougher conditions of rain and wind the next day in the 5000 m and again came up 2nd in 13:19.41. He was beaten out by Ethiopian Yacob Jarso (Team Honda), whose winning time of 13:19.20 was both a PB and a new meet record. As in the 10000 m Ngatuny had the consolation of also being under the previous meet record. His new teammate Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin), just back from racing in California, set the Japanese-born runner meet record of 13:38.31 as he came in 4th.
The East Japan meet was one of six major corporate meets across the country on May 16-17. While Ndambiri and Jarso's marks were two of the weekend's highlights, among other moments high and low in the distance events nationwide:
-2007 World Championships men's 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Team Suzuki), who joined Josephat Ndambiri in breaking 27 minutes two weeks ago in Shizuoka, could not run up to Ndambiri's par this time in the Chubu Jitsugyodan meet as he finished 2nd in 27:42.06 with winner John Thuo (Team Toyota) beating him by the slimmest of margins, 0.01 of a second. 4th place finisher Yusei Nakao (Team Toyota Boshoku) set a new Japanese-born athlete meet record of 28:13.77.
-Hiroyoshi Umegae (Team NTN) set a meet record and PB of 8:36.36 in the men's 3000 mSC at the Chubu meet. It was a good weekend all around for the men's steeplechase as Takayuki Matsuura set a meet record of 8:39.34 in the Kansai Jitsugyodan meet men's 3000 mSC, beating former national champion Jun Shinoto (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko). Matsuura was also 3rd in the 1500 m. Matsuura, Yuki Matsuoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku), Yasuhito Ikeda (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) and Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) virtually controlled the Japanese-only meet, with each of the four athletes finishing in the top three of at least two different distance events.
-2009 New Year Ekiden winner Team Fujitsu completed a near-sweep of the men's short and middle distance events, its athletes taking 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 110 mH and 3000 mSC. And the high jump. Only Kenyan Jonathan Ndiku (Team Hitachi) prevented a full sweep by beating Fujitsu's Yasunori Murakami in the 1500 m. Fujitsu's Olympic 4 x 100 m relay bronze medalist Naoki Tsukahara set a meet record of 10.15 in the 100 m.
-Joseph Gitau (Team JFE Steel) and Peter Kariuki (Team Mazda) went 1-2 in both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Chugoku Jitsugyodan meet. Danielle Filomena Cheyech (Team Uniqlo) came back from setting a meet record and PB of 15:19.47 in the women's 5000 m to win the 10000 m by over a minute. Beijing Olympics marathoner Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) was 2nd in both the 5000 m and 1500 m.
-Philes Ongori (Team Hokuren) re-established her dominance among African pros in Japan with a double win over Doricah Obare (Team Hitachi) in the East Japan 1500 m and 5000 m. While she lost both races, Obare's 1500 m time of 4:15.63 was a PB and her 5000 m mark of 15:21.12 was only 0.04 seconds off her best. A battle between Ongori and Cheyech looks inevitable.
-Although her times were unremarkable, 5000 m national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) returned from plantar fasciitis woes to win both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kansai meet.
-Two-time junior 10000 m national record holder Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) also came back from injury and made a season debut of sorts in the 5000 m. Kinukawa is widely hoped to be The Future of Japanese Women's Distance Running but has been incredibly injury-prone since contracting a mystery virus and missing almost all of 2008. She appeared from out of thin air last fall to beat Fukushi and break her own junior 10000 m record, then in January sustained an Achilles tendon injury which has kept her completely out of training. In the East Japan 5000 m she came last in a baffling 17:54.97.
-Alarm bells began to sound as 2009 World Championships women's marathon medal favorite Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) pulled out of the 5000 m and 10000 m due to an injury she sustained training in Kunming, China earlier in the season. It was at least the third time she has pulled out of a race this spring, and each time the evocation of Mizuki Noguchi's pre-Beijing season grows stronger.
-In Shibui's absence, the best result among the members of Japan's 2009 World Championships marathon team belonged to men's team member Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko). Maeda ran his first race since qualifying for the team at March's Tokyo Marathon, winning the 10000 m at the Kyushu Jitsugyodan meet in 28:35.59. Women's team member Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) was 5th in the East Japan 10000 m in 33:03.11, while the women's team alternate Tomo Morimoto (Team Tenmaya), running unofficially, came 2nd in the Chugoku 10000 m in 33:40.00.
More detailed lists of the top finishers including links to complete results from each meet are available here.
(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
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