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28:45 High Schoolers and More - Weekend Track Roundup

The IAAF has unilaterally declared track season over. But in Japan fall track is an integral part of ekiden season training, and it's not unusual to see many athletes drop their best 3000 m, 5000 m and 10000 m times of the year between October and December. Case in point, this weekend.

The biggest news came at Saturday's Nighter Time Trials in Nagasaki, where Keiho H.S. 11th-grader Hiroto Hayashida ran 28:45.75 for 6th in the 10000 m, all-time #8 among Japanese high school boys and #2 among 11th-graders. "Thank you to everyone who supported me!" Hayashida said on Twitter post-race. "I want to take this and apply to it ekiden season now." Geoffrey Gichia (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) won in 28:36.36, with Jakarta Asian Games marathon gold medalist Hiroto Inoue (MHPS) 2nd in 28:37.27.


At Niigata's Autumn Time Trials a unique women's 5000 m delivered for the two women to finish it. 2018 World U20 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Tanaka (ND28 AC) went head-to-head with Moscow World Championships 10000 m 5th placer Hitomi Niiya (Nike Tokyo TC), on the return at age 30 from a five-year retirement. With pacing from Niiya's teammate Ran Urabe the pair were together until the final lap, when Tanaka unleashed a 65-second final lap to win in a PB 15:15.80 that put her at all-time #2 on the junior list and #18 on the all-time Japanese list. Aiming for a time in 15:20 to 15:25 range as the next step in her comeback, Niiya was right on-target in 15:24.01.

Fast 10000 m times also came at the Chubu Corporate Autumn Track and Field Championships, where Rodgers Chumo Kemoi (Aisan Kogyo) ran a quality 27:32.65 to lead the top four under 28 minutes. Tatsuya Oike (Toyota Boshoku) took the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 28:24.25, with Shinobu Kubota (Toyota) and Masato Terauchi (AIchi Seiko) joining him under the 28:30 mark.

Less fast was the Saga Time Trials 10000 m, where multi-Olympic and World Championships medalist Paul Tanui (Kyudenko) lapped the entire field to take the top spot in 28:11.41. Duncan Kisaisa (Oita Tomei H.S.) won the 5000 m in 13:58.85, with 2:07 marathoner Masato Imai 2nd in 13:59.37. 2018 Boston Marathon 10th-placer Hiroko Yoshitomi (Memolead) doubled in the women's 3000 m and 5000 m, winning each in 9:31.63 and 16:13.26.

Elsewhere Sunday, at the Miyazaki Long Distance Time Trials two-time New Year Ekiden winner Asahi Kasei ran almost its entire team in the 10000 m ahead of next month's Kyushu Corporate Ekiden, the qualifier for the 2019 New Year Ekiden. Ten Asahi Kasei men went under 29 minutes led by Abraham Kapsis Kapyatich in 28:34.40. Takashi Ichida was almost even with Kapyatich, finishing as the top Japanese man in 28:34.47. Rio Olympics marathoner Satoru Sasaki, arguably Asahi Kasei's best shot at actually qualifying someone for the 2020 Olympic marathon trials, was 11th in 29:08.01.

© 2018 Brett Larner

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Andrew Armiger said…
Stellar result for Hiroto Hayashida! Were the Nighter Time Trials held at Transcosmos Stadium?
October 15, 2018 at 7:55 AM
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