Karoki Under 27:10 Again - Weekend Track Roundup

A typhoon passing to the south brought rain and wind to most of the country throughout the weekend, but with what's left of ekiden season getting off the ground next weekend there were a million high-level meets across the country.

None higher-level than Friday's Chubu Corporate Track and Field Championships, where Bedan Karoki (Toyota) turned in his second sub-27:10 clocking in the last three weeks, winning the men's 10000 m A-heat in 27:08.91. 19-year-old Philemon Kiplagat (Aisan Kogyo) was 2nd in 27:46.67, the first sub-28 by a junior this year. Five other men were under 28 in the same heat, including first-timers Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota) and Daiji Kawai (Toenec). A total of 44 men were under 29 minutes between all three heats.

Victor Korir Kipkirui (GMO) took the top spot in the men's 10000 m A-heat at Saturday's Track Games in Tokorozawa, a quad meet between Waseda University, Meiji University, Toyo University and Soka University with some GMO corporate interlopers. Kipkirui ran 28:09.07 to beat teammate Yuya Yoshida by exactly 10 seconds, with Waseda's Yuhi Nakaya 3rd in 28:19.27. Hideto Konde (Meiji Univ.) led the men's 5000 m A-heat in a PB 13:46.56.

Out in the wildlands of Chiba Sunday, Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu), twin brother of iconoclastic former half marathon and marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara had a solid win in the Juntendo University Time Trials men's 10000 m, taking the top spot by over 10 seconds in 28:28.04.

Sunday's Nagasaki Nighter Time Trials meet saw some fast times in the women's 10000 m, with Rika Kaseda (Meijo Univ.) running 32:04.99 for the win over Ethiopian Husan Zeyituna (Denso) and teammate Mikuni Yada (Denso), who clocked 32:07.79 and 32:09.12. Sad to say, every runner in the race except last-place finisher Yuri Nozoe (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) was wearing non-regulation shoes. The call of the shoes was strong in the women's 5000 m A-heat too, with Kenyans Cynthia Baire (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) in an extra-cushioned photo finish, 15:11.29 to 15:11.30 for Bairu. 3rd placer Yuna Wada (Meijo Univ.) was the top runner in legal shoes at 15:40.93. Baire's teammate Miyu Kubo was legit in the 3000 m with a 9:06.22 for the win over Kenyan Marta Mokaya (Canon), 2nd in 9:07.44, and teammate Runa Nakasu, 3rd in 9:08.61 and all in clean shoes.

Nagasaki men's 10000 m A-heat winner Benard Koech (Kyudenko) dropped a solid 27:31.13 to beat Cleophas Kandie (Mitsubishi Juko) by over 35 seconds. 2:06 marathoner Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) was the top Japanese man at 4th in 28:28.41. Silas Kingori (Hiramatsu Byoin) took the 5000 m A-heat in 13:43.43, where the biggest news was a 13:48.59 for 3rd by Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S. senior Kanta Tokumaru.

Against the backdrop of all this distance action happening across the country, the sprints, hurdles, middle distances, jumps and throws component of the Kanto Region University Championships also happened Friday through Sunday at Kanagawa's Sagamihara Gion Stadium. Rescheduled from the spring, coming right after the rescheduled National Championships and hit by the edge of the typhoon, performances suffered a bit. There wasn't a single meet record across D1 and D2 men's and women's events, or even anything close. Well, the women's sprints were close, but only with massive tailwinds of +3.7 in the 100 m and +4.8 in the 200 m.

Hibiki Obara (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) did pull on a mini-coup in the D2 3000 mSC when he was almost 10 seconds faster than D1 winner Shunya Morishita (Juntendo Univ.) in 8:56.48. The highlight of the meet, at least from an entertainment standpoint, though, was the D2 men's high jump. With the tough conditions hitting a peak only one competitor, Shobi Gakuen Univ. 1st-year Yasunobu Shimomura, made it over any height. Shimomura cleared the opening height of 1.95 m on his third attempt, with all ten of his competitors failing to get over. Post-race Shimomura tweeted, "I've never seen results like these before!"

Long distance events for the Kanto Regionals meet happen later this month in Tokyo.

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

japan running news

Search This Blog