Skip to main content

Watanabe, Sato Clear World Championships 5000 m B-Standard at Golden Games in Nobeoka

by Brett Larner

The men's 5000 m Heat E.

Pre-typhoon rain couldn't hold back the times at the 2011 Golden Games in Nobeoka meet, May 28 in Noboeka. With a focus on the 5000 m, the meet's top men's heat saw two Japanese men, former middle-distance specialist Kazuya Watanabe (Team Shikoku Denryoku) and Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) break the World Championships B-standard. Watanabe ran a PB of 13:23.15 to win outright over a largely African field and become the all-time 8th-best Japanese man over the distance, while Sato was just off his PB with a 13:25.53 clocking, his best in five years. The Japanese man with the best 10,000 and half-marathon times of 2011, Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) also ran a PB of 13:30.30. Just behind him Waseda University sophomore Suguru Osako, the Asian half-marathon jr. area record holder, likewise ran a large PB of 13:31.52 for 8th after a gutsy push to the front at 4000 m. Although none of the Africans in the top ten ran PBs, times were overall fast despite the conditions with Kenyan Edward Waweru (Team NTN) 2nd in 13:24.09 and Ethiopian Alemu Desta (Team Yasukawa Denki) 3rd in 13:24.23.

Five of the eight men's 5000 m heats had winning times under 14 minutes. Outside the top heat, the fastest time came in the first heat, where Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) ran a shocking 32-second PB to win in 13:35.74 over defending 5000 m national champion Yuki Matsuoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku). Daegu World Championships marathoner Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) took the fourth heat in a PB of 13:53.07, continuing his steady progression of PBs since running 2:09:21 at March's Biwako Mainichi Marathon.

The women's 5000 m A-heat was a showdown between the top two Kenyan women currently based in Japan, Ann Karindi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) and Sally Chepyego (Team Kyudenko). Karindi emerged victorious, breaking Chepyego's winning streak by running 15:15.89 to Chepyego's 15:17.75. Karindi's teammate Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki), the 1500 m national record holder and fastest Japanese woman over 5000 m in 2010, ran 15:43.61 for 3rd in her first race of the season.

2011 Golden Games in Nobeoka
Nobeoka, 5/28/11
Men's 5000 m Heat E
1. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 13:23.15 - PB
2. Edward Waweru (Kenya/Team NTN) - 13:24.09
3. Alemu Desta (Ethiopia/Team Yasukawa Denki) - 13:24.23
4. Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:25.17
5. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:25.53
6. Paul Kuira (Kenya/Team Konica Minolta) - 13:27.20
7. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) - 13:30.30 - PB
8. Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.) - 13:31.27 - PB
9. Patrick Mwaka (Kenya/Team Aisan Kogyo) - 13:31.52
10. Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Team Fujitsu) - 13:34.24

Women's 5000 m Heat A
1. Ann Karindi (Kenya/Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:15.89
2. Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 15:17.75
3. Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:43.61
4. Mai Ishibashi (Bukkyo Univ.) - 15:43.81 - PB
5. Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic) - 15:45.77
6. Grace Kimanzi (Kenya/Team Starts) - 15:53.63
7. Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 15:57.73
8. Yukie Nagata (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:57.75
9. Chisa Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 15:58.61
10. Seika Nishikawa (Team Sysmex) - 15:58.67

Men's 5000 m Heat D
1. Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:53.07 - PB
2. Takahiro Mori (Team Asahi Kasei) - 14:00.33
3. Yoshihiro Hinomoto (Team YKK) - 14:00.63

Men's 5000 m Heat C
1. Tomoya Adachi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:49.73
2. Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 13:53.31
3. Shinji Ando (Team Togami Denki) - 13:57.68

Men's 5000 m Heat B
1. Shinobu Kubota (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:49.53 - PB
2. Kenta Matsumoto (Team Toyota) - 13:57.27
3. Hideohito Takamine (Team Fujitsu) - 13:57.58

Men's 5000 m Heat A
1. Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) - 13:35.74 - PB
2. Yuki Matsuoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 13:40.76
3. Yo Yazawa (Waseda Univ.) - 13:44.39

Women's 5000 m Heat B
1. Shiho Takechi (Bukkyo Univ.) - 15:50.10
2. Kyunghee Lim (Korea) - 15:57.96
3. Yurie Doi (Team Starts) - 16:06.07

Men's 1500 m
1. Yasuhiro Tago (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 3:41.50
2. Hiroshi Ino (Team Fujitsu) - 3:44.49
3. Toshiki Imazaki (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 3:48.85

Women's 1500 m
1. Mika Tanimizu (Meijo Univ.) - 4:24.54
2. Ayumi Takada (Canon AC Kyushu) - 4:25.52
3. Minami Nakaarai (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 4:30.61

Men's 800 m
1. Masato Yokota (Team Fujitsu) - 1:46.86 - MR
2. Yasuhiro Nakamura (Tsukuba Univ.) - 1:48.95
3. Taiki Tsutsumi (SDF Academy) - 1:51.94

Women's 800 m
1. Ayako Jinnouchi (Team Kyudenko) - 2:06.61
2. Ruriko Kubo (Team Edion) - 2:07.28
3. Chihiro Sunaga (Team Shiseido) - 2:07.66

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...
1 comment
Read more

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...
Post a Comment
Read more