by Brett Larner
Entry lists are up for one of Japan's biggest spring meets, the Apr. 23-24 Hyogo Relay Carnival. With the cancellation of many of the spring's half marathons after last month's disasters, this year's meet features an exceptionally deep level of talent, particularly at the university level where the men's and women's 10000 m will serve as selection races for the half marathon team for this year's World University Games.
The men's Grand Prix 10000 m has an all-star lineup led by two sub-27 men, Japanese all-comers record holder Josephat Ndambiri (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.) and '07 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist and 10 mile junior world record holder Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC). Lining up against them are '08 World XC Jr. champion Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda), '11 World XC runner-up Paul Tanui (Kenya/Team Kyudenko), sub-28 men Masato Kihara (Team Kanebo), Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko), Yusei Nakao, (Team Toyota Boshoku) and Yusuke Takabayashi (Team Toyota), '11 World Championships marathoners Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) and Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota), '10 Tokyo Marathon winner Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda), #1-ranked university runner Akinobu Murasawa (Tokai Univ.), '10 Kanto Regional University 5000 m champion Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.), the university debut of 28:23 high schooler Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.) and many more.
Most of the best university talent will be running in the B-heat, led by Fukushima native Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.) and Asian half marathon junior area record holder Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.). Those who were planning to run last month's Tachikawa Akishima Half Marathon to qualify for the World University Games half marathon will be lining up in a separate 10000 m selection race and include '10 national university 5000 m champion Hiroki Mitsuoka (Kyoto Sangyo Univ./Team Otsuka Seiyaku), Takashimadaira 20 km Road Race course record holder Takehiro Deki (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.), and three star members of '11 Hakone Ekiden champions Waseda University, Shota Hiraga, Yusuke Mita and Yo Yazawa.
Women's collegiate 10000 m national record holder Hikari Yoshimoto (Bukkyo Univ.) leads the university runners in the women's Grand Prix 10000 m, where she will face 10000 m junior national record holder Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno), the pro debut of 10 km road collegiate national record holder and former teammate Kasumi Nishihara (Team Yamada Denki), top-ranked Kenyan Sally Chepyego (Team Kyudenko), the top two female Japanese half marathoners of '10, twin sisters Hiroko and Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera), and '11 Osaka and Tokyo Marathon runners-up Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) and Noriko Higuchi (Team Wacoal). A notable absence is defending 10000 m national champion Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal), out of competition since being caught in the Christchurch earthquake earlier this year. The World University Games selection 10000 m is relatively weak with no entrants from national champion Bukkyo Univ. but should feature a good matchup between Ritsumeikan's Machiko Iwakawa and Meijo's Aki Odagiri.
2011 Hyogo Relay Carnival Entry List Highlights
Men's Grand Prix 10000 m
Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.)
Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda)
Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei)
Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku)
Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda)
Masato Kihara (Team Kanebo)
Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko)
Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC)
Akinobu Murasawa (Tokai Univ.)
Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.)
Yusei Nakao (Team Toyota Boshoku)
Josephat Ndambiri (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.)
Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota)
Yusuke Takabayashi (Team Toyota)
Yuta Takahashi (Team S&B)
Paul Tanui (Kenya/Team Kyudenko)
Women's Grand Prix 10000 m
Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko)
Noriko Higuchi (Team Wacoal)
Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku)
Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno)
Kazue Kojima (Team Toyota Jidoshoki)
Noriko Matsuoka (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC)
Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera)
Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera)
Shoko Mori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku)
Kasumi Nishihara (Team Yamada Denki)
Michi Numata (Ritsumeikan Univ.)
Doricah Obare (Kenya/Team Hitachi)
Megumi Seike (Team Sysmex)
Hanae Tanaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.)
Hikari Yoshimoto (Bukkyo Univ.)
Men's Asics Challenge 10000 m Heat One
Kenta Chiba (Komazawa Univ.)
Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.)
Tsubasa Hayakawa (Tokai Univ.)
Masaki Ito (Kokushikan Univ.)
Hiromitsu Kakuage (Komazawa Univ.)
Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.)
Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.)
Fuminori Shikata (Waseda Univ.)
Yuki Yagi (Waseda Univ.)
Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Meiji Univ.)
Men's Asics Challenge 10000 m Heat Two
Keita Akiba (Team Komori Corp.)
Sota Hoshi (Team Fujitsu)
Dishon Karukuwa (Kenya/Team Aisan Kogyo)
Yuko Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta)
Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem)
Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin)
Micah Njeru (Kenya/Team Toyota Boshoku)
Minoru Okuda (Team Honda)
Cosmas Ondiba (Kenya/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.)
Shogo Otsu (Team JR Higashi Nihon)
Men's World University Games Half Marathon Trials 10000 m
Takehiro Deki (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.)
Naohiro Domoto (Nihon Univ.)
Shota Hiraga (Waseda Univ.)
Yusuke Mita (Waseda Univ.)
Hiroki Mitsuoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku)
Yo Yazawa (Waseda Univ.)
Women's World University Games Half Marathon Trials 10000 m
Machiko Iwakawa (Ritsumeikan Univ.)
Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.)
Yurina Uragawa (Meijo Univ.)
Miki Yamada (Josai Univ.)
(c) 2011 Brett Larner
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