Kinukawa Again With 31:10.02 For All-Time Japanese #4 at Abashiri 10000 m

by Brett Larner

Ten days after staging a big comeback with a 15:09.96 national 5000 m title, the all-time sixth-best by a Japanese woman, Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) did it again, running a solo 31:10.02 at the June 22 Hokuren Distance Challenge Abashiri Meet 10000 m to become the all-time fourth-fastest Japanese woman over the distance. More impressive than her time, which cleared the World Championships A-standard by over 30 seconds and makes a double in Daegu very likely, was the way she paced the race. After a 15:45 first half Kinukawa gradually ratcheted up her pace, negative splitting with a 15:25 second half which included 9:09 for the final 3000 m and a superb 2:58 final km. Although rain shortly before the race helped to lower temperatures, conditions at the finish were still a less-than-ideal 20 degrees with 81% humidity. In light of this and her conservative first half it's exciting to consider what might be in store for Kinukawa against a more competitive, aggressive field like that she'll face in Daegu.

With Kinukawa's nearest competition over a minute behind there was little else noteworthy in the race, but roughly half the field recorded new PB marks. The same was true in the A-heat of the men's 5000 m, won by Kenyan John Thuo (Team Toyota) in 13:15.53. Six of the top ten ran new PBs, among them first-year Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.), best known for his 28:23.18 as a high school senior last fall, and Kazuki Onishi (Team Kanebo), the lesser-known identical twin of 2010's top Japanese 10000 m and half-marathon runner Tomoya Onishi (Team Asahi Kasei).

The Hokuren Distance Challenge continues on Saturday in Fukagawa, Hokkaido.

2011 Hokuren Distance Challenge Abashiri Meet

Abashiri, Hokkaido, 6/22/11

click here for complete results

Women's 10000 m

1. Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) - 31:10.02 - PB

2. Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 32:15.09

3. Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 32:17.39 - PB

4. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 32:23.29

5. Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) - 32:50.50

6. Hitomi Nakamura (Team Panasonic) - 32:50.75 - PB

7. Ayumi Sakaida (Team Daihatsu) - 32:59.09 - PB

8. Yuka Hakoyama (Team Wacoal) - 33:13.40

9. Asami Kato (Team Panasonic) - 33:16.21 - PB

10. Shiori Kakizaki (Team Wacoal) - 33:26.50 - debut

Men's 5000 m - Heat A

1. John Thuo (Keyna/Team Toyota) - 13:15.53 - PB

2. Edward Waweru (Kenya/Team NTN) - 13:18.94

3. Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) - 13:38.42 - PB

4. Assefe Fekele (Ethiopia/Team Kanebo) - 13:40.98 - PB

5. James Rungar (Kenya/Team Toyota) - 13:41.41

6. Kenta Matsumoto (Team Toyota) - 13:43.76 - PB

7. Kazuharu Takai (Team Kyudenko) - 13:46.78

8. Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:47.19 - PB

9. Kazuki Onishi (Team Kanebo) - 13:48.82 - PB

10. Kazuki Tomaru (Team Toyota) - 13:50.57

10000 m National Championships Preview

Less than five months since the 2023 10000 m National Championships went down at the 2021 Olympic stadium in Tokyo, the 2024 edition happens Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium, with NHK broadcasting it live starting at 19:25 local time. Doubling up on Nationals like this lets Japanese athletes double dip on placing points to try to get into the Paris Olympics on rankings. But between the number of people who've hit the 30:40.00 women's standard and 27:00.00 men's standard and the lopsided eight spots given away to top placers at World XC, there are only four women's spots and three men's available via rankings. Of those, three of the four women's spots and two of the three men's spots are currently occupied by top placers at December's 2023 Nationals, Ririka Hironaka , Haruka Kokai and Rino Goshima for women and Ren Tazawa and Tomoki Ota for men. The 2023 Nationals did get close to the standards, with Hironaka leading the top four women under

Goshima and Kasai Win 10000 m National Titles, Maeda Breaks U20 Asian Record

Rino Goshima and Jun Kasai stepped up with PBs to win the 2024 National Championships 10000 m titles Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. In the women's race, Goshima, 4th in last December's 2023 National Championships 10000 m, went out front from the start with Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich pacing and 2023 3rd-placer Haruka Kokai in tow. Things were never on track to hit the 30:40.00 Paris Olympics standard, but except for a brief dip to 3:08 at 7000 m Goshima held steady at 3:05 to 3:06/km even as Kokai and Jepngetich fell off. With blood dripping from her left knee after getting spiked by Jepngetich, Goshima closed in 3:03 to take 5 seconds off her best from December's Nationals and win in 30:53.31, moving up to all-time Japanese #6. Jepngetich also PBd at 31:09.42 without counting in the standings, with Kokai 2nd in 31:10.53 and Kazuna Kanetomo 3rd in a PB 31:59.29. The runner-up last time, Yuka Takashima was last in 33:33.27. The men's race went out in a

Weekend Track and Road Roundup

The Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon aside, a quick roundup of results from this past weekend: At the Nittai University Time Trials , aka the Nittaidai Challenge Games, Shadrack Kipkemei (Nihon Univ.) led a great men's 10000 m A-heat in 27:20.05, with the top six men all going under 27:28. James Mutuku (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) was the only other collegiate runner among them at 3rd in 27:23.09, with 2:06 marathoner Hidekazu Hijikata (Asahi Kasei) the top Japanese finisher at 8th in 28:23.27. Mutuku's YGU teammate Brian Kipyegon won the 5000 m A-heat in 13:30.88, James Karuri (Aomori Yamada H.S.) next in 13:33.67 and Kaisei Okada (Chuo Univ.) 3rd in 13:48.44. Soya Katayama (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) had the fastest 1500 m with a 3:46.19 to win the A-heat. In the women's races at Nittai, Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) was the only one to clear 16 minutes in the 5000 m A-heat, running 15:27.12 for the win. Lucy Nduta (Aomori Yamada H.S.) was likewise the only one u

japan running news

Search This Blog