Skip to main content

21-Year-Old Shitara Twins Sub-28 at Golden Games in Nobeoka 10000 m

by Brett Larner
photo by Kazuyuki Sugimatsu
video by Ekiden News

Hakone Ekiden course record holder Toyo University's identical twin stars Keita Shitara and Yuta Shitara delivered a piece of history Saturday in the men's 10000 m at Japan's best spring meet, the Golden Games in Nobeoka.  Running steadily, patiently and under control behind 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and grinding down all other competition, Keita, who earlier this season set the Japanese collegiate 30 km record of 1:29:55 in Kumamoto, kicked away from Mathathi with 200 m to go to win in a meet record 27:51.54, breaking the legendary Toshihiko Seko's age 21 best of 27:51.61. Mathathi also cleared the old record in 27:52.65.  Right with them until the last surge, Yuta, who last year set a stage record at the Hakone Ekiden, outkicked World Half Marathon bronze medalist Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) at the New York City Half Marathon for the fastest-ever half marathon by a Japanese man on U.S. soil and won silver at the World University XC Championships, took third in 27:54.82 to achieve what greats including Shigeru and Takeshi Soh and Takayuki and Yuko Matsumiya could not: Japan's first-ever sub-28 clockings by identical twins, as of this writing apparently only the second time the feat has been accomplished in world history behind Portugal's Castro twins in 1988.  Post-race the twins' coach Toshiyuki Sakai, himself part of a set of identical twins, told JRN, "Twins running 27 minutes has a profound meaning.  They were great."


The men's 10000 m starts at 50:15.  See 18:45 for the women's 5000 m A-heat.

So great that the other results of the day seem distant in comparison.  2013 National Collegiate Half Marathon champion and World University Games half marathon squad leader Shogo Nakamura of National University Ekiden course record holder Komazawa University ran a strong 28:05.79 PB for 4th, just missing the World Championships B-standard but beating past 1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno (DeNA RC), who recorded a best of 28:09.56 for 5th.  Nakamura's teammate Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.), 10th at this year's New York City Half Marathon and likewise bound for the World University Games in the 10000 m, faltered from joining the Shitaras under 28 and faded to 6th in 28:21.53.

The men's 5000 m D-Heat begins at 35:00.

Alongside the Shitaras and Mathathi, two other events saw athletes hit Moscow World Championships B-standard marks.  In the women's 5000 m A-heat, Grace Kimanzi (Kenya/Team Starts) ran a sizeable PB of 15:21.41 for the win and the B-standard.  #1-ranked Japanese high schooler Miyuki Uehara (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) was next across the line in a solid best of 15:33.21 a breath ahead of pro Yukari Abe (Team Shimamura), 3rd in 15:33.25.  In the men's 5000 m D-heat, the designated event for the majority of the Japan-based Africans, Toshinari Takaoka-coached steepler Bikila Demma Daba (Ethiopia/Team Kanebo) ran a best of 13:18.72 to win with the B-standard.  2013 World XC Jr. silver medalist Leonard Barsoton (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) ran a PB of 13:26.21 but could do no better than 5th.  In other men's 5000 m heats, Moscow World Championships marathon team members Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) and Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) continued their buildup with 13:52.66 and 14:03.76 shakeouts.

2013 Golden Games in Nobeoka
Nobeoka, Miyazaki, May 11, 2013
click here for complete results

Men's 10000 m
1. Keita Shitara (Toyo Univ.) - 27:51.54 - MR, PB
2. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 27:52.65 (MR)
3. Yuta Shitara (Toyo Univ.) - 27:54.82 - PB
4. Shogo Nakamura (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:05.79 - PB
5. Yuichiro Ueno (DeNA RC) - 28:09.56 - PB
6. Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:21.53
7. Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Team Asahi Kasei) - 28:54.95
8. Shinobu Kubota (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:55.65
9. Tomoya Onishi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 29:08.99
10. Takuya Ishikawa (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 29:27.62

Women's 5000 m A-Heat
1. Grace Kimanzi (Kenya/Team Starts) - 15:21.41 - PB
2. Miyuki Uehara (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) - 15:33.21 - PB
3. Yukari Abe (Team Shimamura) - 15:33.25 - PB
4. Kasumi Nishihara (Team Yamada Denki) - 15:34.40
5. Pauline Kamulu (Kenya/Team Toto) - 15:36.07 - PB
6. Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) - 15:36.90 - PB
7. Shiho Takechi (Team Yamada Denki) - 15:37.30 - PB
8. Risa Takenaka (Team Shiseido) - 15:42.65
9. Eri Hayakawa (Team Toto) - 15:51.63
10. Sayo Nomura (Team Daiichi Seimei)- 15:51.79

Men's 5000 m A-Heat
1. Wataru Ueno (Team Honda) - 13:46.86
2. Daisuke Matsufuji (Team Kanebo) - 13:47.60
3. Paul Tanui (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 13:49.35
4. Ikuto Yufu (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:55.19
5. Hiroyuki Ono (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:58.54

Men's 5000 m B-Heat
1. Aritaka Kajiwara (Team Press Kogyo) - 13:49.59 - PB
2. Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 13:51.14
3. Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) - 13:52.66
4. Masato Kikuchi (Team Konica Minolta) - 13:53.67
5. Kenichi Shiraishi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:55.08

Men's 5000 m C-Heat
1. Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:56.75
2. Paul Kuira (Kenya/Team Konica Minolta) - 13:57.63
3. Kohei Matsumura (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) - 13:58.47
4. Noriaki Takahashi (DeNA RC) - 13:58.67
5. Ryuji Watanabe (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 13:58.69
-----
9. Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) - 14:03.76

Men's 5000 m D-Heat
1. Bikila Demma Daba (Ethiopia/Team Kanebo) - 13:18.72 - PB
2. Zewdie Million (Ethiopia/Team Yachiyo Kogyo) - 13:20.73 - PB
3. Bernard Kimani (Kenya/Team Yakult) - 13:22.15 - debut
4. Jeremiah Karemi (Kenya/Team Toyota Kyushu) - 13:24.50 - PB
5. Leonard Barsoton (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:26.21 - PB

(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

 photo (c) 2013 Kazuyuki Sugimatsu
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