Skip to main content

Karemi Repeats at Record-Setting Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler

by Brett Larner
photos by @t_tsuki

Less than 24 hours after world record-setting 10000 m depth in Hachioji, another record fell at the 40th anniversary Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler.  Expectations were high that the talented Kenta Murayama (Team Asahi Kasei) would follow up on his twin brother Kota's 10000 m national record in Hachioji by breaking the 45:40 Japanese 10 mile national record set back in 1984, almost a decade before the Murayamas were born.

Murayama came out swinging, running side-by-side with defending champion Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Team Toyota Kyushu) through a 2:47 opening km, 44:47 pace.  Karemi pushed on but Murayama soon let go and dropped back behind another Kenyan, Charles Ndungu (Team Komori Corp.), picking up company from teammate Kenjiro Mogi.

Running alone Karemi couldn't sustain his course record pace but had no trouble taking a second-straight win.  His time of 45:19 was 32 seconds better than last year and the seventh-best winning time in Kosa history behind only Martin Mathathi (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), Samuel Wanjiru (Team Toyota Kyushu) and Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin).  Not bad company to be in.

Pursuing Ndungu, Murayama and Mogi fell off Japanese NR pace, and with 1 km to go they found themselves mirroring yesterday's 10000 m, where Kota Murayama and his Asahi Kasei teammate Tetsuya Yoroizaka were side-by-side all the way to a photo finish separated by only 0.05 seconds.  This time it was Mogi's turn, though, as he got Kenta Murayama on the line for 3rd, both men clocking 46:08 to come in at #9 on the all-time Japanese list.

Next across the line was this year's top Japanese marathoner Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) in 46:36, just 1 second off his PB in his first race back since meningitis knocked him out of the summer's Beijing World Championships marathon where he had been a solid medal contender.  Toyota Kyushu runners took the next three places behind Imai, putting the Koichi Morishita-coached team into good position for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships.  Although not quite as good as Asahi Kasei's position with three men sub-28 yesterday and the top two Japanese men today.

The fast times continued far down the field, with a total of 107 men breaking the 50 minute mark to eclipse the previous record set in Kosa in 1998.  Like at yesterday's historic Hachioji Long Distance meet, the majority of them were using Kosa as a tuneup for the New Year Ekiden, which will be celebrating its 60th anniversary running.  With stellar quality and depth at both races look for something special indeed to happen come January 1.


40th Kumamoto Kosa Road Race
Kosa, Kumamoto, 11/29/15
click here for complete results

Men's 10 Miles
1. Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Kenya/Toyota Kyushu) - 45:19
2. Charles Ndungu (Kenya/Komori Corp.) - 46:07
3. Kenjiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) - 46:08
4. Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 46:08
5. Masato Imai (Toyota Kyushu) - 46:36
6. Yuki Oshikawa (Toyota Kyushu) - 46:37
7. Ryuji Watanabe (Toyota Kyushu) - 46:38
8. Kaoru Hirosue (Toyota Kyushu) - 46:39
9. Kohei Matsumura (Mitsubishi HPS Nagasaki) - 46:41
10. Daiki Kubota (Yasukawa Denki) - 46:46
-----
25. Ryoya Nishikawa (Toenec) - 47:13
50. Tsukasa Koyama (Subaru) - 47:53
75. Tatsunari Hirayama (Yasukawa Denki) - 48:19
100. Fumito Imazaki (Osaka Police Dep't) - 49:29
107. Masaki Hori (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 49:52

High School Boys' 10 km
1. Naoki Soh (Tosu Kogyo H.S.) - 30:15
2. Yuma Yoshitake (Tosu Kogyo H.S.) - 30:20
3. Koichi Ide (Tosu Kogyo H.S.) - 30:23

Junior High School Boys' 5 km
1. Tatsunori Okumura (Shiranui J.H.S.) - 15:42
2. Ryuta Ikawa (Sashiki J.H.S.) - 16:01
3. Eito Sato (Minami Oguni J.H.S.) - 16:02

Women's 5 km
1. Miyu Otani (Wacoal) - 16:15
2. Yuka Hakoyama (Wacoal) - 16:16
3. Kumi Ogura (Toenec) - 16:17
4. Mao Ichiyama (Izumi Chuo H.S.) - 16:18
5. Erika Ikeda (Higo Ginko) - 16:20

text (c) 2015 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
photos (c) 2015 t_tsuki, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
1 comment
Read more

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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more