Women's 5000 m World Leader for Chepyego at Kanaguri Memorial

by Brett Larner

The Japanese outdoor track season began in earnest Apr. 9 with the first of the season's major meets, the Kanaguri Memorial Track Meet in Kumamoto. Locally-based Kenyan Sally Chepyego (Team Kyudenko) had the biggest result of the day with a world-leading 15:18.70 to win the women's 5000 m after dueling with fellow Kenyan Ann Karindi (Team Toyota Jidoshoki). 10000 m junior national record holder Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) was 3rd in 15:51.33, holding off former Tamagawa University ace Tomomi Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) in Tanaka's pro debut. Tanaka's teammate, the unknown Kaho Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei), was almost as strong in the 5000 m B-heat, running 15:56.03 for the win.

Titus Waroru, Takuya Ishikawa and Daniel Gitau in the men's 5000 m. Click here to enlarge photo.

In the men's 5000 m, Kenyans took the top five spots with Edward Waweru (Team NTN) coming in a step ahead of 10000 m Japanese all-comers' record holder Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) in 13:21.37. Former Meiji University captain Takuya Ishikawa (Team Chugoku Denryoku) was the top Japanese finisher, 6th overall in a solid PB of 13:35.38. High school sensation Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.) had a credible university debut, two seconds off his PB in 13:51.62, while 2011 World Championships marathon team members Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota) and Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) both went under 14 minutes.

2011 Kanaguri Memorial Track Meet Top Results

click here for complete results

Women's 5000 m Heat Two

1. Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 15:18.70

2. Ann Karindi (Kenya/Toyota Jidoshoki) - 15:41.35

3. Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) - 15:51.33

4. Tomomi Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 15:52.77

5. Seika Nishikawa (Team Sysmex) - 16:00.24

6. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 16:00.51

7. Nanae Kuwashiro (Team Sysmex) - 16:03.39

8. Yukie Nagata (Team Toyota Jidoshoki) - 16:16.43

9. Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) - 16:19.06

10. Misaki Kato (Team Kyudenko) - 16:19.48

Women's 5000 m Heat One

1. Kaho Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 15:56.03

2. Misato Tanaka (Team Sysmex) - 16:04.11

3. Maki Suzawa (Team Yamada Denki) - 16:12.02

4. Megumi Seike (Team Sysmex) - 16:13.25

5. Rina Hidaki (Fukuoka Univ.) - 16:15.88

Men's 5000 m Heat Three

1. Edward Waweru (Kenya/Team NTN) - 13:21.37

2. Josephat Ndambiri (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.) - 13:21.76

3. Patrick Mwaka (Kenya/Team Aisan Kogyo) - 13:26.29

4. Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Team Fujitsu) - 13:34.12

5. Titus Waroru (Kenya/Chinzai H.S.) - 13:34.89

6. Takuya Ishikawa (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 13:35.38

7. John Maina (Kenya/Takushoku Univ.) - 13:37.09

8. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) - 13:43.10

9. Ikuto Yufu (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:44.60

10. Kenta Murotsuka (SDF Academy) - 13:45.72

11. Alex Mwangi (Kenya/Team YKK) - 13:45.81

12. Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota) - 13:51.08

13. Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:51.62

14. Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.) - 13:54.64

15. Yoshikazu Kawazoe (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:56.71

16. Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.) - 13:58.00

17. Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:59.76

18. Duncan Muthee (Kenya/Takushoku Univ.) - 14:08.95

19. Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.) - 14:09.46

Men's 5000 m Heat Two

1. Hiroyuki Ogawa (Team Yachiyo Kogyo) - 13:56.03

2. Yasuhiro Tago (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 13:59.78

3. Satoshi Kubooka (Team JFE Steel) - 13:59.93

4. Tomoaki Bungo (Team Asahi Kasei) - 14:01.71

5. Takasi Ichida (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 14:02.37

Men's 5000 m Heat One

1. Takuji Morimoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 14:04.31

2. Shinji Ando (Team Togami Denki) - 14:05.56

3. Ryosuke Maki (Team Osaka Gas) - 14:05.85

4. Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) - 14:06.38

5. Naohiro Yamada (Team YKK) - 14:07.56

High School Girls' 3000 m Heat Four

1. Misuzu Nakahara (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 9:21.68

2. Shoko Sonoda (Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.) - 9:22.22

3. Ayano Ikeuchi (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 9:22.45

4. Nanako Kanno (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 9:24.01

5. Mio Chijiiwa (Chiharadai H.S.) - 9:26.92

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

japan running news

Search This Blog