Skip to main content

Takezawa, Ugachi Just Off Olympic B-Standard at Kanaguri Memorial 5000 m

by Brett Larner

The Japanese track season got moving Apr. 7 with the first big meet of the year, the 21st Kanaguri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto.  In the men's 5000 m A-heat, relative newcomer Patrick Mwikya (Kenya/Team Toyota Boshoku) led start to finish, winning in a solo 13:21.36.  A tight pack behind him saw Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B), on the mend from his latest round of injuries, emerge to take 2nd in 13:28.70 just short of the 13:27.00 Olympic B-standard.  A step behind were Kenyan Daniel Gitau (Team Fujitsu) and 10000 m Olympic A-standard holder Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta), both under 13:30.  In the men's B-heat, winner Hayato Saito (Team Honda) would have placed well in the A-heat as he won by a comfortable margin in 13:41.80.

Kenyans Sally Chepyego (Team Kyudenko) and, making her pro debut, Beatrice Murugi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) ran together ahead of the Japanese pack with Chepyego pulling away for the win in 15:20.30.  Yuka Ando, debuting with her new Mizuno sponsorship, was 3rd in 15:43.67 with high schooler Shiori Yano (Kitakyushu Civic H.S.) 4th in an impressive 15:44.68.  Like Hayato in the men's race, women's B-heat winner Ai Igarashi (Team Sysmex) would have been more at home in the A-heat as she won in 15:50.47 by a margin of nearly 12 seconds.

The other noteworthy race of the day came in the men's 1500 m A-heat, where Yasunori Murakami (Team Fujitsu) won by a hair over Masahiro Takaya (Team JR Higashi Nihon), 3:43.96 to 3:43.99.  800 m NR holder Masato Yokota (Team Fujitsu) was 3rd in a PB 3:45.63, while 2011 National University 1500 m champ Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.) was 5th in 3:46.84.

21st Kanaguri Memorial Middle and Long-Distance Meet
Kumamoto, 4/7/12
click here for complete results

Men's 5000 m A-Heat
1. Patrick Mutunga Mwikya (Kenya/Team Toyota Boshoku) - 13:21.36
2. Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B) - 13:28.70
3. Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Team Fujitsu) - 13:28.97
4. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) - 13:29.50 - PB
5. Paul Kuira (Kenya/Team Konica Minolta) - 13:30.07
6. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:33.16
7. Takuya Fukatsu (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:33.34 - PB
8. Patrick Mwaka (Kenya/Team Aisan Kogyo) - 13:38.88
9. Kazuya Deguchi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:41.99 - PB
10. Kazuharu Takai (Team Kyudenko) - 13:42.30 - PB

Women's 5000 m A-Heat
1. Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 15:20.30
2. Beatrice Wainaina Murugi (Kenya/Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:21.77
3. Yuka Ando (Mizuno) - 15:43.67
4. Shiori Yano (Kitakyushu Civic H.S.) - 15:44.68
5. Tomoka Inadomi (Team Wacoal) - 15:46.98
6. Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) - 15:59.01
7. Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 16:00.84
8. Misaki Sango (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 16:05.48
9. Anna Hasuike (Team Higo Ginko) - 16:07.41
10. Miyuki Mandai (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 16:09.25

Men's 5000 m B-Heat
1. Hayato Saito (Team Honda) - 13:41.80
2. Alex Mwangi (Kenya/Team YKK) - 13:46.21
3. Hideyuki Tanaka (Juntendo Univ.) - 13:52.16
4. Takehiro Arakawa (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:53.33
5. Teruo Taneno (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 13:54.07

Women's 5000 m B-Heat
1. Ai Igarashi (Team Sysmex) - 15:50.47
2. Rina Nabeshima (Kanaya Taiku Univ.) - 16:02.31
3. Kotomi Takayama (Team Sysmex) - 16:03.01
4. Aya Nagata (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 16:04.43
5. Sayuri Sento (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 16:06.56

High School Boys' 5000 m A-Heat
1. Jeremiah Karemi (Toyokawa H.S.) - 13:52.71
2. Hazuma Hattori (Toyokawa H.S.) - 14:12.50
3. Tadashi Isshiki (Toyokawa H.S.) - 14:22.90

High School Girls' 3000 m A-Heat
1. Kumiko Otani (Oita Tomei H.S.) - 9:31.26
2. Saki Yoshimizu (Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.) - 9:35.38
3. Misuzu Nakahara (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 9:37.65

Men's 1500 m A-Heat
1. Yasunori Murakami (Team Fujitsu) - 3:43.96
2. Masahiro Takaya (Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 3:43.99
3. Masato Yokota (Team Fujitsu) - 3:45.63 - PB
4. Aoi Matsumoto (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 3:46.21
5. Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.) - 3:46.84

Women's 1500 m A-Heat
1. Rose Maranga (Team Toto) - 4:24.79
2. Yukari Soh (Team Asahi Kasei) - 4:27.54
3. Yui Fukuda (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 4:27.97
4. Minami Nakaarai (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 4:28.46
5. Azusa Saito (Niigata Albirex AC) - 4:29.06

(c) 2012 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

2026 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field

The Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon has great fields this year, so let's get right to it. The women's field has 3 of last year's top 10, winner for the 2nd year in a row and Tokyo CR holder Sutume Asefa Kebede , 3rd-placer and 2025 Chicago winner Hawi Feysa , and 5th-placer and 2025 Berlin winner Rosemary Wanjiru , plus 2024 Valencia winner Megertu Alemu , 2025 Prague winner Bertukan Welde , 2024 Paris winner Mestawut Fikir , 2024 Osaka winner Waganesh Mekasha , former WR holder Brigid Kosgei , and a lot more. Japanese hopes pretty much go to all-time #7 Ai Hosoda , 2:20:31 in Berlin 2024 but who announced this month that she is retiring after Tokyo despite having qualified for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th in Sydney last year. Other internationals include Canadian Malindi Elmore , American Sara Hall , a big Chinese group led by Yuyu Xia , Poland's Aleksandra Brzezińska and Australian Vanessa Wilson . The men's race has 5 of last year's top 1...
4 comments
Read more

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance?  Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance.  This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere.  It was put into place in 1986.  In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made.  Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km.  When a bicycle is u...
2 comments
Read more

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...
2 comments
Read more