Skip to main content

Kawabata Over Kawauchi at Takashimadaira 20 km


Like a distant echo of the thunder of yesterday's Yosenkai 20 km reverberating across the city, Tokyo's other major 20 km road race took place this morning in the northwestern suburb of Takashimadaira. Narrowly surviving the loss of its main sponsor last year, the Takashimadaira Road Race offers a unique 5 km loop course that delivers fast times. Now in its 42nd year, Takashimadaira is a favorite for upper-tier universities that don't have to run the Yosenkai to requalify for the Hakone Ekiden, for other schools' second-stringers, and for top-level independents and amateurs.

This year's race was fronted by a group of runners from Izumo Ekiden winner Tokai University who didn't make Tokai's final Izumo roster, by London World Championships marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) and others from yesterday's Yosenkai winner Teikyo University and the Hakone-qualified Juntendo University and Komazawa University. In the same cool and lightly rainy conditions that produced fast times yesterday, Tokai's Kazuto Kawabata and Shuto Mikami took the race out at a quality pace, 14:51 for the first 5 km and 29:43 through 10 km with Kawauchi and four others in tow. The top Japanese man at yesterday's Yosenkai, Kazuya Azegami (Teikyo Univ.) ran 59:30, meaning the top group here was right on track to equal or better that.

On the third loop the front group began to lap age groupers, bogging down the pace somewhat until Kawauchi went to the front. Leading at 15 km in 44:41, Kawauchi had Kawabata on his heels until the home straight when Kawabata kicked by for the win in 59:30, exactly tying Azegami's time yesterday. Kawauchi was just behind in 59:32, with Reiri Nakashima (Tokai Univ.) and Kohei Nanba (Juntendo Univ.) just behind in 59:35 and 59:36.

Kawabata's winning time was a 20 km PB by 44 seconds and not far off his half marathon best on equivalency. For Kawauchi it was the second-fastest 20 km race of his career, and with a half marathon equivalent of 1:02:48 the fourth-best performance of his career, boding well for next month's Nice-Cannes Marathon in France. Both Nakashima and Nanba's times were PBs and equivalent to sub-1:03 half marathons, something neither of them has done yet in a regular half marathon. In Nanba's case it beat his 1:05:55 half marathon best by more than 3 minutes.

With the exception of Kawauchi everyone in the top 10 ran a PB, a sign of how good the conditions and competition were. Notably, 5th placer Ryota Komori and 8th placer Takeshi Tamura run for Teikyo University, the winning team at yesterday's Yosenkai 20 km. Neither Komori nor Tamura made Teikyo's 12-man starting roster for the Yosenkai, but their Takashimadaira times of 59:51 and 1:00:52 would have put them 4th and 7th among Teikyo's men who ran yesterday. Expect to see them, and especially Komori, in contention for Teikyo's Hakone lineup.

The women's 20 km at Takashimadaira is typically a lower-level race. This year was no exception, with club runner Mitsuko Hirose (Tokyo Wings) taking 1st in 1:14:43. Tatsuya Sato (Police Deparment) won the men's 10 km in 29:18, leading a total of ten police officers under 30 minutes. Maybe that's part of why crime levels in Tokyo are so low. Club runner Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Wings) won the women's 10 km in 34:35, with high schooler Yuka Masubuchi (Kinjo Gakuen H.S.) winning the women's 5 km in 16:27, the fastest time ever by a high school girl at Takashimadaira. Civil servant runner Keita Shimazaki (Ome City Hall) won the men's 5 km in 15:20.

42nd Takashimadaira Road Race

Takashimadaira, Tokyo, 10/15/17
click here for complete results

Men's 20 km
1. Kazuto Kawabata (Tokai Univ.) - 59:30 - PB
2. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 59:32
3. Reiri Nakashima (Tokai Univ.) - 59:35 - PB
4. Kohei Nanba (Juntendo Univ.) - 59:36 - PB
5. Ryota Komori (Teikyo Univ.) - 59:51 - PB
6. Reo Kuniyuki (Tokai Univ.) - 59:55 - PB
7. Shuto Mikami (Tokai Univ.) - 1:00:34 - PB
8. Takeshi Tamura (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:00:52 - PB
9. Ryogo Shimada (Tokai Univ.) - 1:00:59 - PB
10. Kazuki Noda (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:01:06 - PB

Women's 20 km
1. Mitsuko Hirose (Tokyo Wings) - 1:14:43

Men's 10 km
1. Tatsuya Sato (Police Department) - 29:18
2. Taiki Suzuki (Rafine) - 29:25
3. Yuki Kuroda (Comody Iida) - 29:26
4. Ryo Ishita (SDF Academy) - 29:27
5. Yasumasa Oneyama (Police Department) - 29:29

Women's 10 km
1. Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) - 34:35

Men's 5 km
1. Keita Shimazaki (Ome City Hall) - 15:20

Women's 5 km
1. Yuka Masubuchi (Kinjo Gakuen H.S.) - 16:27

text and photos © 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...
1 comment
Read more

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR have announced details for the qualifying half marathon for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The Yosenkai qualifying race will be held Oct. 17 in Tachikawa, Tokyo. The combined times of the 10 fastest finishers from each participating team will be used for team scoring, with the 10 fastest teams going on the the main event next January and top-placing individuals from teams that do not qualify being names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team. One change from previous years is that the number of runners each school can enter has been increased from 14 to 16. Teams will still only be allowed to have from 10 to 12 athletes on the starting line, but the move gives coaches greater flexibility in making the final decision on their starting rosters. No changes have been made to the qualifying times of 34:00 for 10000 m or 1:13:00 for the half marathon, and the new earlier starting time of 8:30 a.m. introduced last year in an effort to mitigate ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

2010 Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/21/10 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 47:53 2. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 48:07 3. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 49:43 4. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 51:37 5. Benita Willis (Australia) - 51:51 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) - 41:13 - WR 2. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 42:01 3. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 42:01 4. Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) - 43:03 5. Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia) - 43:08 ----- 14. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 45:31
Post a Comment
Read more