Skip to main content

World Leads at Hyogo Relay Carnival and Nittai Time Trials - Day One Report

by Brett Larner

Two big two-day meets got started Saturday, turning out two world-leading times.  At the Hyogo Relay Carnival the Asics Challenge events serve as the B-heats ahead of Sunday's Olympic selection Grand Prix races, but there was nothing second-tier in the men's 10000 m as James Mwangi (Team NTN) ran a world-leading 27:23.04 to lead six men, all Kenya, under 28 minutes.  Mwangi's time took more than 9 seconds off the meet record set in way back in 2005 by the late great Samuel Wanjiru.  Fabiano Sulle (Tanzania) was the top non-Kenyan at 7th in 28:01.76.

Second-year Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) led the collegiate results in 3rd in 27:56.47.  Tokai University dominated Heat Two of the 10000 m with three runners, two of them first-years, going sub-29 led by first-year Hayato Seki with the win in 28:48.63.  Toyo University first-year Sota Watanabe also cleared 29, just, running 28:59.77 for 10th.  Many more university men broke 29 at the Nittai Time Trials meet, led by Stanley Siteki (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) in 28:39.29, pointing to an exciting hear ahead on the university ekiden circuit.

The other world-leading run came at Nittai as Kenyan Helen Ekarare (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) ran 8:56.92 to win the women's 3000 m A-heat, followed closely by rival Monica Margaret (Aomori Yamada H.S.) in 8:58.93.  Natsumi Yoshida (Route Inn Hotels) topped the Nittai women's 5000 m A-heat in 15:51.55, but back in Hyogo Hisami Ishii (Yamada Denki) turned in a bigger run, delivering the fastest Japanese women's 5000 m so far this year with a 15:39.92 in the Asics Challenge Women's 5000 m, the only runner there to break 16.  Both Hyogo and Nittai continue tomorrow.

64th Hyogo Relay Carnival - Day One Highlights
Universiade Memorial Stadium, Kobe, Hyogo, 4/23/16
click here for complete results

Asics Challenge Men's 10000 m Heat One
1. James Mwangi (Kenya/NTN) - 27:23.04 - WL, MR
2. Alexander Mutiso (Kenya/ND Software) - 27:47.20
3. Dominic Nyairo (Kenya/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 27:56.47
4. Patrick Muendo Muwaka (Kenya/Aisan Kogyo) - 27:56.97
5. Charles Ndungu (Kenya/Komori Corp.) - 27:57.36
6. Macharia Ndirangu (Kenya/Aichi Seiko) - 27:57.57
7. Fabiano Sulle (Tanzania) - 28:01.53
8. Silas Kingori (Kenya/SGH Group) - 28:01.76
9. Hiram Ngatia (Kenya/Toyota) - 28:05.56
10. Alex Mwangi (Kenya/YKK) - 28:26.11

 Asics Challenge Men's 10000 m Heat 2
1. Hayato Seki (Tokai Univ.) - 28:48.63
2. Hiroyuki Ishikawa (Aisan Kogyo) - 28:49.11
3. Junji Katakawa (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 28:52.21
4. Kento Otsu (Toyota Kyushu) - 28:53.66
5. Ryutaro Ichitani (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 28:55.14
6. Kazuto Kawabata (Tokai Univ.) - 28:55.26
7. Shota Onizuka (Tokai Univ.) - 28:55.26
8. Kazuki Muramoto (Sumitomo Denko) - 28:55.45
9. Daisuke Koyama (Chudenko) - 28:56.71
10. Sota Watanabe (Toyo Univ.) - 28:59.77

Asics Challenge Women's 5000 m
1. Hisami Ishii (Yamada Denki) - 15:39.92
2. Sakie Arai (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 16:00.59
3. Kasumi Nishihara (Yamada Denki) - 16:00.66
4. Nami Hashimoto (Denso) - 16:02.63
5. Ayano Ikemitsu (Kagoshima Ginko) - 16:04.29

249th Nittai University Time Trials - Day One Highlights
Nittai University, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 4/23/16
click here for complete results

Women's 3000 m Heat 5
1. Helen Ekarare (Kenya/Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 8:56.92 - WL
2. Monica Margaret (Kenya/Aomori Yamada H.S.) - 8:58.93
3. Tomoka Kimura (Universal Entertainment) - 9:10.12
4. Wakana Kabasawa (Tokiwa H.S.) - 9:11.32
5. Yumika Nagahama (Miura Gakuen H.S.) - 9:22.23

Women's 5000 m Heat 4
1. Natsumi Yoshida (Route Inn Hotels) - 15:51.55
2. Yuma Adachi (Kyocera) - 15:51.56
3. Satomi Ueta (Kyocera) - 15:52.08
4. Yuri Nozoe (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 15:59.69
5. Harumi Okamoto (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 16:01.57

Men's 10000 m Heat 8
1. John Maina (Kenya/Fujitsu) - 27:43.70
2. Daniel Muiva Kitonyi (Kenya/Kanebo) - 28:04.22
3. Johana Maina (Kenya/Fujitsu) - 28:18.45
4. Yuta Shitara (Honda) - 28:19.43
5. Stanley Siteki (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 28:39.29
6. Titus Mogusu (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 28:39.68
7. Naoki Kudo (Komazawa Univ.) - 28:40.31
8. Simon Kariuki (Kenya/Nihon Yakka Univ.) - 28:40.86
9. Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) - 28:44.44
10. Yuki Matsumura (Honda) - 28:44.83

© 2016 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...
1 comment
Read more

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...
1 comment
Read more

Tokyo Marathon Top Japanese Man Tsubasa Ichiyama Works 4 Days a Week, Walked On in College

38,000 people ran the 2025 Tokyo Marathon . Every runner had their own story, but one of the most special was Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx). Despite being on almost nobody's radar, he outran some of the best in the country to finish as the top Japanese man. Ichiyama ran most of the race in the 3rd pace group, going through halfway in 1:02:44 and 30 km in 1:29:13. When the pacers stopped, he showed what he could really do. "I'm not good at downhills, so in the first part it was hard to run smoothly," he said at the post-race press conference. "But after the downhill part ended I got into my rhythm, and I think that helped me over the 2nd half." After dropping Asian Games gold medalist Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) and others, he quickly bore down on the Japanese athletes who had gone out faster in the 2nd pace group. Overtaking Paris Olympics 6th placer Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu), at 39.8 km he caught all-time Japanese #2 man Yohei I...
Post a Comment
Read more