James Rungaru Solo 27:22.53 at Nittai Time Trials

by Brett Larner

Newcomer James Rungaru (Kenya/Team Toyota) rocked Saturday's Nittai Univ. Time Trials men's 10000 m A-heat with a solo 27:22.53 PB, going out at sub-27 pace without accompaniment and lapping the entire field. Toyota's B-Kenyan, Rungaru ran 15 seconds faster than Paul Tanui's winning time at Friday's National Corporate T&F Championships 10000 m and 16 seconds faster than Toyota's A-Kenyan John Thuo ran at the national meet. His nearest competition, Ethiopian Fekele Assefa (Team Kanebo), finished in only 28:36.63 after running most of the race with Masaki Ito (Kokushikan Univ.).

Ito's PB of 28:38.13 led three university men under 29 minutes, the most surprising being Aritaka Kajiwara of the minor Shoin University. With a performance like this behind him Kajiwara is a lock on a spot for the 2012 Hakone Ekiden's Select Team. Also in the field in his first race since the Daegu World Championships marathon earlier this month, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) finished 21st of 27 after fading badly in the final km. Kawauchi is also scheduled to run Sunday's 5000 m A-heat, a tuneup for next month's Osaka Marathon where he is an invited athlete.

218th Nittai University Time Trials Men's 10000 m Heat 9
Nittai University, Yokohama, 9/24/11
click here for complete results

1. James Rungaru (Kenya/Team Toyota) - 27:22.53 - PB
2. Fekele Assefa (Ethiopia/Team Kanebo) - 28:36.63
3. Masaki Ito (Kokushikan Univ.) - 28:38.13 - PB
4. Yuki Nakamura (Team Kanebo) - 28:40.77
5. Hideyuki Anzai (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 28:45.72
6. Hirotaka Tamura (Nihon Univ.) - 28:48.54 - PB
7. Naohiro Yamada (Team YKK) - 28:49.58
8. Takamasa Uchida (Team Toyota) - 28:51.04
9. Aritaka Kajiwara (Shoin Univ.) - 28:52.55 - PB
10. Naohiro Domoto (Nihon Univ.) - 29:00.26
-----
21. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) - 29:30.87

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that Sis

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n

Police Arrest 20-Year-Old Man Charged With Assaulting Female Runner at Popular Tokyo Running Spot

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a female runner along the banks of the Tama River in Ota Ward, Tokyo. "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go for a walk and move my body a bit," the man told police. Local resident Hirai Muroyama , 20, of no known occupation, was arrested on charges of sexual assault. He is accused of acts including grabbing the breasts of a woman in her 20s at around 10 p.m. on May 31 along the banks of the Tama River. According to police, the woman was taking a break in her run when Muroyama approached her silently from behind and grabbed her breasts before running away. Under police interrogation Muroyama told investigators, "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go out for a walk and move my body. I'd had a few drinks and was feeling pretty hype. She was totally my type." source article: https://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newsey

japan running news

Search This Blog