Skip to main content

Kwemoi and Murayama Twins Dominate at Golden Games in Nobeoka

by Brett Larner
videos by Ekiden News

Nobeoka is Japan's twin to the United States' Eugene, an isolated mecca of the sport with intense local support driven by the legends of local greats.  Track Town U.S.A. Eugene has 1972 Olympics 5000 m 4th-placer Steve Prefontaine, while Athlete Support Town Nobeoka has twins Takeshi Soh, 4th in the 1976 Olympics marathon, and Shigeru Soh, whose 2:09:06 in 1978 was that time's fastest ever behind Australian Derek Clayton's short-course world best.  Prefontaine died a rock star death to become a marketing icon for locally-originating global manufacturer Nike, while the Soh twins became the faces of locally-originating global manufacturer Asahi Kasei, first as athletes and then as coaches and staff members, their work in developing the Asahi Kasei corporate team, in creating and operating the Golden Games meet and in supporting children's programs and the local community helping make Asahi Kasei synonymous with distance running greatness throughout Japan.

Both Sohs were working hands-on at this year's Golden Games, Shigeru walking the infield and track throughout the meet wearing a headset to call out encouragement to runners and Takeshi, now one of the JAAF's national directors of marathoning and one of the architects of its year-old National Team marathon development program, helping carry signs and equipment onto the field and waiting at the finish line to congratulate incoming runners.  Under Takeshi's guidance this year Asahi Kasei pulled in a massive recruitment wave of most of the best 2015 graduating Hakone Ekiden stars, its first-year lineup alone looking capable of achieving the nationalistic goal of an all-Japanese New Year Ekiden national title.  Prominent among the incoming deluge of Hakone talent are two sets of twins, Kenta and Kota Murayama and Hiroshi and Takashi Ichida.  Amid Asahi Kasei domination of the day, the team's runners winning seven of the nine main distance races to the delight of the packed stands and thousands more fans lining the track pounding rhythmically on the sponsor boards ringing lane eight, the Murayama twins soared.



Kota, a graduate of Josai University, ran in the fastest 5000 m heat, the C-heat in which he was the lone Japanese runner amid 14 Kenyans including the likes of 1500 m junior world record holder Ronald Kwemoi (Team Komori Corp.) and two-time 3000 mSC world junior gold medalist Jonathan Ndiku (Team Hitachi Butsuryu).  In search of becoming the first Japanese man to hit the Beijing World Championships 5000 m qualifying time of 13:23.00 he relaxed near the rear of the pack in the early going, watching for gaps and moving up to stay in contact with the leaders as others faded.  With a best of only 13:31.35 set just a few weeks ago, Kota shocked the crowd by going to the front at 4000 m and brought them to their feet by kicking into the lead in the last lap.  Only Kwemoi could match Kota's closing speed, winning in a PB 13:16.14 with Kota 2nd in 13:19.62, just the 6th Japanese man to ever break 13:20 and the 2nd-fastest ever to do it on Japanese soil.



An hour later Kenta was on the track to hit the 27:45.00 standard for the 10000 m in Beijing after missing it with a 28:09.28 two weeks earlier in Hyogo.  With pacing from Moscow World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Paul Tanui (Kenya/Kyudenko) Kenta's only competition was another talented twin, Yuta Shitara (Team Honda) who likewise had missed the Beijing standard when he ran 28:01.65 at last weekend's Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University in the United States.  Longtime rivals, Shitara and Kenta hold the fastest two half marathons ever run by Japanese men on U.S. soil, Shitara with a 1:01:48 at the 2012 NYC Half and Kenta 1:02:02 a year later at the same race, both with support from JRN.  Tanui did an outstanding job of keeping the pace close to 2:45/km for most of the race, Kenta and Shitara right behind.  The occasional slightly slower lap put the Japanese national record of 27:35.09 out of reach, and when it looked like the Beijing standard might get iffy a move from Shitara got it back on track.  In the last 1000 m Shitara looked the stronger, but, like his brother, Kenta's kick on the last lap was too much.  Kenta crossed the line in 27:39.95, and mirroring Kota's result he was the 6th Japanese man to ever clear 27:40 and the 2nd-fastest to do it on Japanese soil.  Shitara held on to join Kenta under the Beijing standard in 27:42.71, both breaking the meet record.



Asahi Kasei's other new twins also performed over 5000 m.  Takashi Ichida, another NYC Half alumnus, was part of an Asahi Kasei trio led by Tetsuya Yoroizaka that topped the 5000 m A-Heat, Yoroizaka winning in 13:33.30 and Takashi clearing 13:40 for the first time in 13:36.09 for 3rd.  In the B-Heat his brother Hiroshi was shooting for the sub-13:50 qualifying time for next month's National Championships but came up short, running 13:55.24 for 5th.  B-Heat winner Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Team Konica Minolta), back from an excellent run at February's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, was the only non-Asahi Kasei Japanese runner to win one of the major distance races, just 0.32 seconds off his best in 13:45.75.

Satoru Sasaki and Tomoya Adachi, both sub-2:10 Asahi Kasei marathoners last year, also ran, Sasaki winning the F-Heat and Adachi 2nd in the G-Heat.  2014 Asian Games marathon silver medalist Kohei Matsumura (Team Mitsubishi Hitachi Nagasaki), a DNS at the Warsaw Marathon two weeks ago, took 3rd in the B-Heat in 13:54.10.



With most of Japan's top women having focused on Payton Jordan last weekend the men's races were the focus in Nobeoka, but good women's races also happened over 3000 m and 5000 m.  In the junior women's 3000 m, Yuka Mukai and Shinobu Koyoshigawa of Sera H.S. went 1-2, Mukai breaking the meet record in 9:15.36.  Kenyans Rosemary Wanjiru (Team Starts) and Mariam Waithira (Team Kyudenko) likewise went 1-2 in the 5000 m A-heat, Wanjiru getting the win in 15:32.16.  Miyuki Uehara (Daiichi Seimei), who gained some notice with a 15:40 at this year's Carlsbad 5000 in California, was the top Japanese woman at 3rd in 15:47.59.

26th Golden Games in Nobeoka
Nobeoka, Miyazaki, 5/9/15
click here for complete results

Men's 10000 m
1. Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 27:39.95 - MR
2. Yuta Shitara (Honda) - 27:42.71 (MR)
3. Akihiko Tsumurai (Mazda) - 28:50.68
4. Keiji Akutsu (Subaru) - 29:04.17
5. Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku) - 29:16.63

Men's 5000 m C-Heat
1. Ronald Kwemoi (Kenya/Komori Corp.) - 13:16.14
2. Kota Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 13:19.62
3. Jonathan Ndiku (Kenya/Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:21.72
4. Bernard Kimani (Kenya/Yakult) - 13:22.01
5. William Malel (Kenya/Honda) - 13:22.72
6. Paul Kamais (Kenya/Sera H.S.) - 13:23.69
7. John Maina (Kenya/Fujitsu) - 13:24.21
8. David Njuguna (Kenya/Yakult) - 13:24.69
9. Rodgers Chumo Kwemoi (Kenya/Aisan Kogyo) - 13:33.77
10. Joseph Mumo (Kenya/Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:41.69

Men's 5000 m A-Heat
1. Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) - 13:33.30
2. Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) - 13:34.37
3. Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 13:36.09
4. Kensuke Takezawa (Sumitomo Denko) - 13:37.89
5. Kaido Kita (Chugoku Denryoku) - 13:38.60
6. Keisuke Tanaka (Fujitsu) - 13:40.65
7. Mitsunori Asaoka (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:42.41
8. Daiki Hirose (Osaka Gas) - 13:42.59
9. Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) - 13:42.79
10. Keita Baba (Honda) - 13:43.13

Men's 5000 m B-Heat
1. Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Konica Minolta) - 13:45.75
2. Shota Shinjo (Honda) - 13:53.86
3. Kohei Matsumura (Mitsubishi Hitachi Nagasaki) - 13:54.10
4. Masaru Aoki (Kanebo) - 13:54.73
5. Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 13:55.24

Men's 5000 m D-Heat
1. Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) - 13:44.64
2. Toshihiro Kenmotsu (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 13:54.57
3. Kei Fumimoto (Kanebo) - 13:57.00

Men's 5000 m E-Heat
1. Yuki Arimura (Asahi Kasei) - 14:04.62
2. Eita Hamamoto (Takeda Pharma) - 14:08.08
3. Takuya Otani (Press Kogyo) - 14:11.74

Men's 5000 m F-Heat
1. Satoru Sasaki (Asahi Kasei) - 14:12.72
2. Ryoichi Matsuo (Asahi Kasei) - 14:13.29
3. Yoshiki Takenouchi (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 14:14.50

Men's 5000 m G-Heat
1. Takumi Honda (Asahi Kasei) - 14:21.27
2. Tomoya Adachi (Asahi Kasei) - 14:23.11
3. Yuma Higashi (Kyudenko) - 14:24.04

Men's 5000 m H-Heat
1. Fumihiro Maruyama (Asahi Kasei) - 14:23.38
2. Shinpei Muratake (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 14:27.39
3. Tomoya Onishi (Asahi Kasei) - 14:28.16

Women's 5000 m A-Heat
1. Rosemary Monicah Wanjiru (Kenya/Starts) - 15:32.16
2. Mariam Waithira (Kenya/Kyudenko) - 15:44.97
3. Miyuki Uehara (Daiichi Seimei) - 15:47.59
4. Ai Inoue (Noritz) - 15:48.23
5. Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) - 15:48.83
6. Tomomi Tanaka (Daiichi Seimei) - 15:48.92
7. Keiko Nogami (Juhachi Ginko) - 15:49.21
8. Risa Kikuchi (Hitachi) - 15:55.74
9. Tomoyo Yamamoto (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:55.91
10. Akane Higashimura (Sysmex) - 15:59.45

Women's 5000 m B-Heat
1. Rika Toguchi (Route Inn Hotels) - 16:07.29
2. Kanade Furuya (Matsuyama Univ.) - 16:10.47
3. Reno Okura (Hokuren) - 16:14.94

Women's 5000 m C-Heat
1. Nana Sato (Starts) - 16:19.70
2. Nao Taguchi (Route Inn Hotels) - 16:22.08
3. Mai Nagaoka (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 16:22.73

Junior Women's 3000 m
1. Yuka Mukai (Sera H.S.) - 9:15.36 - MR
2. Shinobu Koyoshigawa (Sera H.S.) - 9:17.62
3. Yuki Shibata (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) - 9:30.93

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Saku Chosei H.S. Makes It 2 In a Row - National High School Ekiden Boys' Race

While the girls' race was a blowout by 2022 champ Nagano Higashi H.S. , the boys' race at Sunday's National High School Ekiden was a tense battle of turnover that saw all of the final top four teams take a stab at leading. 2023 3rd-placer Yachiyo Shoin H.S. handled the first 2 of the 7 stages in the 42.195 km race, with lead runner Rui Suzuki delivering a bold run on the 10.0 km First Stage that produced the fastest-ever time by a Japanese runner on the stage, 28:43, and put Yachiyo Shoin 29 seconds out front. Last year's Fifth Stage CR breaker Tetsu Suzuki ran Yachiyo Shoin down to put 2023 champ Saku Chosei H.S. into 1st on the 8.1075 km Third Stage, but Genta Sugano of last year's 8th-placer Sendai Ikuei H.S. had other plans and took the lead on the 8.0875 km Fourth Stage. Smiling and fist pumping to the crowd almost the entire way, Taketo Tsukada of last year's 6th-placer Omuta H.S. moved up from 3rd to 1st by 2 seconds over Saku Chosei on the 3.0 k...

Nagano Higashi Girls Lead Start to Finish to Win National High School Ekiden

2022 National High School Ekiden girls' champion Nagano Higashi H.S. was back in force after a 5th-place finish last year, leading start to finish to win this year's national title Sunday in Kyoto. Lead runner Airi Mashiba kicked it off with a 19:30 stage win on the 6.0 km opening leg, something that head coach Fumio Yokouchi said later that he hadn't been expecting. That ended up being Nagano Higashi's only individual stage win in the 5-leg, 21.0975 km race, but the rest of its team ran well enough to hold a lead that was never less than 11 seconds but never more than 21. Last year's 4th-placer Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. spent most of the race in 2nd, but over the second half of the race Sendai Ikuei H.S. , 2nd last year by just 1 second, came from further back to run Kunei down on the anchor stage thanks in big part to a critical stage win on the 4th leg by Tsubomi Tezuka that put anchor Aoi Hosokawa in position to catch Kunei's Mizuki Oda . Nagano Higashi ...

Japan Post Holds Off Sekisui Kagaku to Win Queens Ekiden National Title

  Japan Post  was back on top at the Queens Ekiden corporate women's national championships Sunday in Sendai, holding off last year's winner Sekisui Kagaku  over the second half of a race that came as close as 1 second to take 1st with a final margin of victory of 27 seconds. Sekisui Kagaku was out fast with a win on the 7.0 km opening leg by Erika Tanoura  and a new CR for the 12:56 second leg by Yuma Yamamoto , 17 seconds better than her own CR from last year. Last year's 4th-placer Shiseido  briefly led on the 10.6 km third leg with an excellent 33:17 stage win from Rino Goshima , but behind her Japan Post's Ririka Hironaka  returned from her latest injury problems to pass Sekisui Kagaku's Sayaka Sato  and hand off 6 seconds ahead. New recruit Caroline Kariba  ran Shiseido down on the 3.6 km fourth leg and put Japan Post 22 seconds ahead of Sekisui Kagaku, but a duel of marathoners between JP's  Ayuko Suzuki  and Sekisui's Hitomi Niiy...