Kanaguri Memorial Meet Results

April 1 is the start of the new academic and fiscal year, the time when runners move up from high school to university teams and on from university to the corporate leagues. The Kanaguri Memorial Meet is always one of the first chances to see people debut in new uniforms, and even though it was a week later than usual this year there were still lots of interesting items to be had.

#1 among them was the debut of Australian Melissa Duncan in the Shiseido team's pink uniform. Duncan had no trouble putting away the field of Japanese and Kenyan corporate leaguers, soloing a 15:20.88 to win the women's 5000 m A-heat by over 20 seconds.

2018 National Sports Festival women's 1500 m champion Ran Urabe (Nike Tokyo TC) had a much narrower margin of victory in the 1500 m A-heat but still pulled out a win over 2018 World U20 Championships 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Tanaka 4:21.96 to 4:22.25, Tanaka debuting in the new Toyota Jidoshokki TC uniform after moving to that club sponsor at the start of the month alongside training partner Yume Goto.

The men's 1500 m was relatively conservative, with Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) taking the win in 3:44.46. His new teammate Yuta Bando, the 2018 National XC Champion, had a breakthrough in the men's 5000 m, beating Kenyans Peter Langat (SGH Group) and Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) to win the A-heat in 13:32.59. 2019 National University Half Marathon champion Akira Aizawa (Toyo Univ.) was 4th in a school record PB of 13:34.94. Toyo grad and half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) was just over a second over his PB in 5th in 13:35.70, his best race since his 2:06:11 at last year's Tokyo Marathon.

B-heat winner Bernard Koech (Kyudenko) was slightly faster than Bando at 13:31.69, but the fastest 5000 m of the meet came in the C-heat via another newcomer, Vncent Yegon Kibet (Tokyo Kokusai University) with a 13:30.51 to beat a solid field of Japan-based Kenyans.

Kanaguri Memorial Meet Highlights

Kumamoto, 4/14/19
complete results

Women's 1500 m A-Heat
1. Ran Urabe (Nike Tokyo TC) - 4:21.96
2. Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki TC) - 4:22.25
3. Ayako Jinnouchi (Kyudenko) - 4:22.82
4. Maya Iino (Saitama Iryo Univ. Group) - 4:23.22
5. Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) - 4:23.58

Men's 1500 m A-Heat
1. Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) - 3:44.46
2. Shohei Shimizu (ND Software) - 3:45.53
3. Yasunari Kusu (Ami AC) - 3:45.95
4. Masaki Toda (Sunbelx) - 3:46.30
5. Kohei Otake (Hiroshima Keizai Univ.) - 3:46.72

Women's 5000 m A-Heat
1. Melissa Duncan (Shiseido) - 15:20.88
2. Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) - 15:42.34
3. Tomoka Kimura (Shiseido) - 15:48.27
4. Shiori Yano (Canon AC Kyushu) - 15:52.90
5. Fusan Zeytuna (Denso) - 15:57.23
6. Mai Shinozuka (Univ. Ent.) - 15:59.41
7. Mai Shoji (Denso) - 16:00.23
8. Akane Yabushita (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 16:02.17
9. Miku Daido (Iwatani Sangyo) - 16:03.63
10. Martha Mokaya (Canon AC Kyushu) - 16:09.79

Men's 5000 m A-Heat
1. Yuta Bando (Fujitsu) - 13:32.59
2. Peter Langat (SGH Group) - 13:33.13
3. Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) - 13:34.70
4. Akira Aizawa (Toyo Univ.) - 13:34.94
5. Yuta Shitara (Honda) - 13:35.70
6. Mitsunori Asaoka (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:40.62
7. Taisei Hashizume (SGH Group)
8. Hiroki Abe (Meiji Univ.) - 13:52.36
9. Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:52.50
10. Takanori Ichikawa (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:53.15

Men's 5000 m B-Heat
1. Bernard Koech (Kyudenko) - 13:31.69
2. Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) - 13:34.63
3. David Ngure (DeNA) - 13:38.08
4. Evans Yego (Sunbelx) - 13:39.40
5. Ledama Kisaisa (Obirin Univ.) - 13:39.97
6. Hideyuki Tanaka (Toyota) - 13:40.94

Men's 5000 m C-Heat
1. Vincent Yegon (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 13:30.51
2. Andrew Lorot (Subaru) - 13:32.21
3. Daniel Kipkemoi (Nishitetsu) - 13:38.82
4. Patrick Mathenge Wambui (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 13:40.95
5. James Bunuka (Surugadai Univ.) - 13:42.80

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Keita Sato Joins Swoosh TC

After appearing at a Nike event on Apr. 3, U20 1500 m NR and indoor 3000 m and 5000 m NR holder Keita Sato , 22, updated his Instagram profile to announce that he is joining Nike's Swoosh TC . At the Nike event Sato said that he plans to run the 1500 m at the Apr. 11 Kanaguri Memorial Meet, then will move to the U.S. "To be successful at the global level I need to train and grow alongside world-class athletes," he said. "I have to take every day seriously in order to achieve that dream of being internationally competitive." Swoosh TC was founded last year. Its coach Mike Smith has guided many athletes to international championships, including prior to Swoosh TC's launch, with some earning medals and podium finishes under his leadership. photo © 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved source article: https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/204241/2 translated by Brett Larner

Weekend Track Roundup

There were 2 decently competitive meets in the Tokyo area this weekend. Saturday saw the new year's first edition of the Setagaya Time Trials meet. Takuma Akiyoshi took the men's 3000 m A-heat over his MABP Maverick teammate Festus Kiprono Cheruiyot with a 7:58.32 PB. Cheruiyot just held off 3rd-placer Nao Kurihara 7:59.92 to 8:00.02, with MABP runners taking the top 5 spots. The top 7 in the men's 5000 m A-heat all cleared 14 minutes. Still a 6-way race with 400 m to go, Tatsuya Maruyama of Komori Corp. came out on top in 13:48.49, with 5th-placer Kazuki Ishii of Yakult just over a second behind in 13:49.63. Lacking the gear to stay with them, new American marathon sensation Ethan Shuley fell back to 6th in 13:57.12 in his first-ever track 5000 m, holding off 7th-placer Daiki Nomimura of NTT Nishi Nihon who came up from behind to finish in 13:58.30. Sunday was the 59th edition of the Tokyo Big 6 meet between Waseda University , Meiji University , Hosei Univers...

Kanakuri Memorial Meet Streaming and Start Lists

Japan's outdoor Grand Prix season kicks off Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanakuri Memorial Meet . Streaming will be at the link above starting at 9:30 a.m. local time. Complete timetable and start lists . Main events and some noteworthy entries: GP Women's 800 m Heat 2 - 12:10 p.m. All-time JPN #4 Ayano Shiomi , 2:01.01 GP Men's 800 m Heat 2 - 12:30 p.m. GP Women's 3000 mSC - 2:45 p.m. All-time JPN #4 Yuzu Nishide , 9:38.95 All-time JPN #5 Manami Nishiyama , 9:39.28 South Korean NR holder Ha-Rim Cho , 9:53.09 GP Men's 3000 mSC - 3:05 p.m. All-time JPN #2 Ryoma Aoki , 8:18.75 All-time JPN #5 Yutaro Niinae , 8:19.54 All-time JPN #7 Hibiki Obara , 8:22.64 All-time U20 JPN #2 Tetsu Sasaki , 8:29.05 All-time U20 JPN #3 Soma Nagahara , 8:30.37 GP Women's 1500 m Heat 2 - 3:35 p.m. Teresiah Muthoni , 4:02.54 Margaret Ekalale , 4:09.64 all-time JPN #3 Ran Urabe , 4:07.90 All-time JPN #6 Tomoka Kimura , 4:09.79 All-time U20 #5 Mei Sakiyama , 4:13.67 GP Men's 1500...

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