Skip to main content

Kosimbei, Kwemoi and Shitara Lead Hachioji 10000 m Field



Nestled deep in the misty foothills of the western Tokyo mountains, Hosei University's late November Hachioji Long Distance meet has quietly turned into one of the world's premier track 10000 m, its A-heat never quite dipping under 27 minutes yet but still producing record-setting depth and the two fastest Japanese men's 10000 m in history.

This year's entry list is another monster, with 27:02.59 man Nicholas Kosimbei (Toyota) leading 17 men with recent times under 28 minutes, twelve of them Kenyan, three Japanese and two Ethiopian. Fresh off a 27:22.73 win at last weekend's Nittai University Time Trials, two-time steeplechase junior world champion Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) is slated to pace what is scheduled to be a sub-28 race, but with Kosimbei, sub-27:30 men John Maina (Fujitsu) and Rodgers Chumo Kwemoi (Aisan Kogyo) and five others under 27:45 including last year's winner Ronald Kwemoi (Komori Corp.) on the list the front end should go faster. 

Right up the alley of the top Japanese man in the field, newly-crowned half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda). Over three successive weekends in September Shitara ran a 28:56 road 10k PB, a 1:00:17 national record for the half marathon, and a 2:09:03 marathon PB. Afterwards he said he wanted to run one more marathon before the end of the year, and like clockwork his announced schedule now includes a 10000 m in Hachioji, the Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler next weekend, and a window the following two weekends in which he could run either Honolulu or Hofu if he were serious about another marathon. But first things first, Shitara will need to be back to peak shape to chop 13 seconds off his 27:42.71 best to take the 10000 m national record in Hachioji. From there, it may well be a shot at the ancient 45:40 national record for 10 miles set back in 1984 long before Shitara was born.

Along with most of the best Japan-based Africans and a few ambitious Japanese record-seekers, Hachioji has started to attract others from abroad looking for off-season qualifying marks. Last year Americans Chris Derrick and Andrew Bumbalough made the trip over, Derrick delivering one of the best track 10000 m of his career. This year it's Australia's Harry Summers, a familiar face at the now-defunct International Chiba Ekiden, the Gifu Seiryu Half and other Japanese road races. Summer's 28:13.23 best is long past him and his recent best of 28:42.97 only ranks him in the bottom eighth of the A-heat field, but with plenty of company ahead at whatever pace he chooses to tackle, like Derrick he may deliver his best track performance in many a year.

Hachioji Long Distance Entries

Hosei University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 11/26/17
click here for complete field listing
times listed are best in last three years except where noted

Men’s 10000 m A-Heat 
Nicholas Kosimbei (Kenya/Toyota) – 27:02.59 (Eugene 2016)
Jonathan Ndiku (Kenya/Hitachi Butsuryu) – 27:11.23 (Yokohama 2016)
John Maina (Kenya/Fujitsu) – 27:21.97 (Yokohama 2016)
Rodgers Chumo Kwemoi (Kenya/Aisan Kogyo) – 27:25.23 (Bydgoszcz 2016)
Hiram Ngatia (Kenya/Toyota) – 27:30.75 (Tajimi 2016)
James Mwangi (Kenya/NTN) – 27:33.04 (Kobe 2016)
Ronald Kwemoi (Kenya/Komori Corp.) – 27:33.94 (Hachioji 2016)
Bernard Kimani (Kenya/Yakult) – 27:36.60 (Hachioji 2014)
Teressa Nyakora (Ethiopia/Mazda) – 27:38.93 (Hachioji 2015)
Patrick Mwaka Muendo (Kenya/Aisan Kogyo) – 27:41.28 (Hachioji 2016)
Yuta Shitara (Japan/Honda) – 27:42.71 (Nobeoka 2015)
Abiyot Abinet (Ethiopia/Yachiyo Kogyo) – 27:45.04 (Abashiri 2016)
Samuel Mwangi (Kenya/Konica Minolta) – 27:45.27 (Hachioji 2016)
Minato Oishi (Japan/Toyota) – 27:48.56 (Hachioji 2016)
David Njuguna (Kenya/Yakult) – 27:49.57 (Hachioji 2016)
Patrick Mathenge Wambui (Kenya/Nihon Univ.) – 27:54.98 (Abashiri 2015)
Mitsunori Asaoka (Japan/Hitachi Butsuryu) – 27:59.72 (Abashiri 2016)
Cyrus Kingori (Kenya/SGH Group) – 28:01.76 (Kobe 2016)
Tsubasa Hayakawa (Japan/Toyota) – 28:06.10 (Hachioji 2015)
Bekele Shiferaw (Ethiopia/Macda) – 28:10.54 (Hachioji 2016)
Muthoni Muiru (Kenya/Soka Univ.) – 28:19.24 (Kobe 2017)
Josphat Ledama Kisaisa (Kenya/Obirin Univ.) – 28:21.61 (Yokohama 2017)
Bernard Muia (Kenya/Toyota Boshoku) – 28:21.71 (Tajimi 2017)
Titus Mogusu (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) – 28:28.40 (Yokohama 2016)
Stanley Siteki (Kenya/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) – 28:31.12 (Yokohama 2014)
Elijah Kositany (Kenya/Honda) – 28:32.40 (Konosu 2017)
Kazuya Shiojiri (Japan/Juntendo Univ.) – 28:32.85 (Hiyoshi 2015)
Hideto Yamanaka (Japan/Honda) – 28:37.72 (Konosu 2017)
Harry Summers (Australia) – 28:42.97 (Melbourne 2015)
Andrew Lorot (Kenya/Subaru) – 28:55.14 (Nairobi 2016)
Richard Kimunyan (Kenya/Hitachi Butsuryu) – 28:57.27 (Nairobi 2016)
Yeneblo Biyazen (Ethiopia/Yachio Kogyo) – debut – 13:23.51 for 5000 m (Yokohama 2017)

© 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

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...
41 comments
Read more

Chisato Fukushima Selected as First Women`s 100 m Olympian in 56 Years

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080706-00000027-yom-spo http://www.47news.jp/CN/200807/CN2008070601000467.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On July 6 Rikuren announced that it has added women`s 100 m runner Chisato Fukushima (20, Hokkaido HiTec AC) to the Beijing Olympic team. Fukushima will become the first Japanese woman to compete in the Olympic 100 m since Ayako Yoshikawa ran in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Fukushima broke the Olympic B-standard of 11.42 with her national record-tying 11.36 mark at April`s Oda Memorial Meet. Although she won June`s National Track and Field Championships, Fukushima was not initially selected for the team as she did not meet the Olympic A-standard. In light of her victory at today`s Nambu Memorial Meet in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Rikuren reversed its decision and added her to the Olympic team lineup. Fukushima reacted to the news of her Beijing ticket by saying, "It hasn`t really hit me that it`s real yet. I would be honored to be the tri...
Post a Comment
Read more