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Ishida Breaks Own 5000 m High School National Record - Weekend Track Review

This was probably the busiest track weekend of the year so far, with almost too much action across the country to keep track of. The biggest news came last, with 5000 m high school national record holder Kosuke Ishida (Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S.) going step for step with national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike) and all-time #2 Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) in the final race of the day at Sunday's Tokai University Time Trials. Yoroizaka got the win in 13:33.53 with Osako next in 13:33.83. Ishida was right there behind them in 13:34.74 for 3rd, taking 2 seconds off the record set this past summer, and doing it in legal shoes. With the Japanese academic year running April through March Ishida still has other chances to take the record even further.

Ishida wasn't the only high schooler under 14 minutes. In the heat before him, Haruta Koshi (Saku Chosei H.S.) won in a PB 13:53.77. Up north at the Ichinoseki Time Trials, Sendai Ikuei H.S. teammates Boniface Mutechi and Yusuke Shirai went 1-2 in 13:55.41 and 13:58.00. At the Kyoto Time Trials Hiroki Wakabayashi (Rakunan H.S.) ran 13:58.77. And there were probably others. If there's any silver lining to several of the big fall ekidens having been canceled it's that these guys and many others seem to be putting it all into the track.

Tokai's 10000 m had at least one other result that should be on the international radar. After a solid 3000 mSC / 5000 m double at last weekend's National Corporate Championships, Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) soloed a 27:07.29 PB for the win in a big way, beating runner-up Ryota Natori (Tokai Univ.) by over a minute. Not that Natori's time was weak. At 28:10.51 it was a PB by over 75-seconds and put him at school all-time #3 for the defending National University Ekiden champions Tokai.

The Chukyo University Saturday Time Trials meet had some unexpectedly good 5000 m times. Alex Cherono (Toyota) got the win in 13:25.28, he and Bedan Karoki (Toyota) pulling 2019 Fukuoka International Marathon winner and teammate Taku Fujimoto along to a 13:27.34 PB. Hot off a great run in the 3000 m SC at the National Corporate Championships last weekend, Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) outkicked Karoki for 4th in a PB of 13:35.65 a step behind 3rd-placer Charles Karanja (NTN). 40-year-old former national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Aichi Seiko) managed to sneak under 14 minutes again, running 13:58.61 for 7th in the B-heat.

The Chugoku Corporate Time Trials meet in Hiroshima produced a stack of decent winning times. Agnes Mwikali (Kurashiki H.S.) turned in a meet record 15:15.14 for the win in the women's 5000 m, with Rebecca Njeri Mwangi (Daiso), sub-15 for the win at the National Corporate Championships last weekend, getting the 3000 m meet record in 8:57.12. Misaki Kato (Kyudneko) had her best run in a long time with a 32:13.23 win to put herself into December's National Championships. Simon Kariuki (Togami Denki) took the men's 5000 m in 13:39.36, with the ageless Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku) running his best 10000 m since 2012 with a 28:18.71 for the win in the men's 10000 m.

What else? On the men's side, the Kansai Region Corporate Championships were nothing particularly special. On the women's side, Wacoal trio Mao Ichiyama, Yuka Ando and Kayoko Fukushi went 1-2-3 in both the 10000 m and 5000 m, finishing in that order in the 10 and Ando-Fukushi-Ichiyama in the 5. In both cases Fukushi got the entry standard for December's National Championships, opening the door for her to take another stab at making her fifth-straight Olympic team after missing out in the marathon.

The most entertaining race of the week was the final event at Kansai,. Just 10 minutes after the end of the women's 5000 m, both Wacoal and the Iwatani Sangyo teams put four of their 5000 m runners into the 4x400 m, including marathoners Ichiyama (2:20:29), Ando (2:21:36) and Madoka Nakano ('19 Doha World championships). They pretty much ran like marathoners tired from having just raced 5000 m, but the entertainment factor was high, and a brilliant anchor leg from 5000 m winner Ando gave Wacoal the win in 4:21.02 to Iwatani's 4:21.70. Just about everyone on both teams was laughing and smiling during the race, a nice change to the vibe of the times to see people just having fun doing what they do. Here's to more of that.

© 2020 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Stefan said…
That final event brought a big smile to my face. That's what it is all about. Having fun doing what you love doing. Great stuff.
September 28, 2020 at 5:14 PM
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