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Murasawa, Yoroizaka PB in Palio della Quercia 5000 m

by Brett Larner

Four of Japan's brightest young talents ran the 2011 Palio della Quercia 5000 m Sept. 13 in Rovereto, Italy, their stated goal to clear the Olympic A-standard of 13:20.  Although all four fell short, each of the Japanese athletes had positive results.  2009 double 1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B) had his first good run of the year after injuries last fall, 4th overall in 13:27.14.  Top-ranked university men Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Meiji Univ.) and Akinobu Murasawa (Tokai Univ.) both scored new PBs, Yoroizaka cracking 13:30, a rarity among Japanese university men.  In both talent and propensity for injury Japan's answer to Dathan Ritzenhein, Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B) also showed himself on the rebound from injuries sustained in Europe late last summer, at 13:32.98 far off his Rovereto best of 13:22.36 from 2006 but one second ahead of his best time from his abbreviated 2010 season.

Murasawa, Takezawa and Ueno will stay in Italy to run the 3000 m at the Sept. 18 La Notturna di Milano meet.  Unsatisfied with his Palio della Quercia time, Murasawa is scheduled to run the 5000 m at the Oct. 1 Saitama Prefectural Corporate Track and Field Championships meet along with teammate Tsubasa Hayakawa (Tokai Univ.) and rival Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.), the three students having received special permission to run in the pro meet in order to help them set faster marks.  Murasawa, who ran 28:00.78 in the spring, was also quoted as saying that he hopes to run a 10000 m this fall targeting 27:30-27:45.  Even the slower end of that range would clear the London Olympic A-standard.  The faster end would be Japanese national record territory.

2011 Palio della Quercia
Rovereto, Italy, 9/13/11
click here for complete results

Men's 5000 m
1. Joseph Kiplimo (Kenya) - 13:15.23
2. Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 13:15.27
3. Daniele Meucci (Italy) - 13:27.14
4. Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B) - 13:27.66
5. Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Meiji Univ.) - 13:29.11 - PB
6. Arne Gabius (Germany) - 13:32.08
7. Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B) - 13:32.98
8. Akinobu Murasawa (Tokai Univ.) - 13:34.85 - PB
9. Maxim Obrubanskyy (Italy) - 13:36.48
10. Daudi Liokitok Makalla (Kenya) - 13:42.47

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
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