Fukushi and Takezawa Win 10000 m at National Championships

by Brett Larner

The 2010 Japanese National Track and Field Championships got underway June 4 in Marugame, Kagawa prefecture. At stake for competitors this year are places on the Japanese national team for November's Asian Games. The first day of competition saw the women's and men's 10000 m.

In the women's 10000 m, multiple past national champion Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) returned to the top for the first time in three years. Fukushi ran the entire race alone and unchallenged, taking it out in 3:06 for the first km with no one even near. Fukushi finished in 31:47.56, her closest competition over half a lap behind as Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu) came 2nd in 32:31.64. Defending champion Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren), still working her way back from a marathon PB in London at the end of April, was 3rd in 32:36.32.

The men's 10000 m was more dramatic if slower. Young pro Naoki Okamoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku) and university star Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.) alternated the lead for the first four km, with Okamoto eventually dropping out. First-year corporate runner and former Komazawa University ace Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) took over next and led through 9000 m, briefly challenged by Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) with a thick pack just behind. Hitting 9000 m in 26:04, Ugachi finished 8th in 28:48.37. Emerging on top of the chaotic last km was the talented Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B), whose impressive finishing speed gave him a 2:38 final km for the win in 28:43.08. Teammates Satoru Kitamura and Yuki Sato (both Team Nissin Shokuhin) were just behind, Kitamura suprisingly outlasting 27:38 man Sato for 2nd in 28:44.16. Defending national champion Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei) was only 11th in 29:12.02.

2010 National T&F Championships - Top Finishers
click here for complete results
Men's 10000 m
1. Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B) - 28:43.08
2. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 28:44.16
3. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 28:44.59
4. Ryo Yamamoto (Team Sagawa Express) - 28:45.94
5. Tomoya Onishi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 28:46.23
6. Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) - 28:46.34
7. Takeshi Makabe (Team Kanebo) - 28:47.11
8. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) - 28:48.37
9. Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 29:05.27
10. Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota) - 29:07.58

Women's 10000 m
1. Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) - 31:47.56
2. Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu) - 32:31.64
3. Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) - 32:36.32
4. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 32:38.43
5. Doricah Obare (Kenya/Team Hitachi) - 32:39.98
6. Noriko Matsuoka (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 32:56.44
7. Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 33:08.38
8. Hikari Yoshimoto (Bukkyo Univ.) - 33:19.59
9. Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz) - 33:23.60
10. Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) - 34:14.23

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

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