Yamanaka Runs Steeplechase World Leader in Hyogo

Yamanaka Runs Steeplechase World Leader in Hyogo - Weekend Track Roundup

Even as several big races and meets canceled amid new states of emergency being declared across the country, two big two-day meets went off as planned this weekend.

At Kobe's Hyogo Relay Carnival, Yuno Yamanaka (Ehime Ginko) ran a world-leading 6:19.55 to win the women's 2000 m steeplechase. Both Yamanaka and runner-up Yui Yabuta (Otsuka Seiyaku) bettered Yabuta's old national best in the little-raced distance, Yabuta more than 7 seconds under her old mark in 6:20.37. The national best mark also fell in the men's 2000 m steeplechase, with 2019's 3000 mSC national champion Ryohei Sakaguchi (SGH Group) clipping almost 2 seconds off the old mark in 5:29.89.

In the women's 5000 m, 2021 national university half marathon champion Narumi Kobayashi (Meijo Univ.) the only woman to break 16 minutes at 15:57.87. Aoyama Gakuin University runners took the top three spots in the men's 5000 m, new recruits Masaya Tsurekawa and Aoi Ota going 1-2 in 13:55.77 and 13:59.71.

In a windy women's 10000 m with only 8 people on the starting line, Kenyan Joan Kipkemoi (Kyudenko) paced teammate Wakana Itsuki through 8000 m before pulling away to take the top spot in 32:31.19, her debut over the distance. Itsuki was next in 32:48.43, with club runner Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab Kanto) just missing out on a sub-33 mark but still managing a PB of 33:02.64 for 3rd. Olympic marathon trials winner Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) was 4th in 33:25.85, far off her pre-race target.

All three men's 10000 m heats saw winning times under 28 minutes. Kiprono Sitonik (Komori Corp.) was the fastest, taking Saturday's B-heat in 27:42.74. Sunday's A-heat winner Richard Kimunyan (Hitachi Butsuryu) was next in 27:52.92. A-heat runner-up Tomoki Ota (Toyota) broke 28 for the first time in 27:56.49, just 0.90 off what his younger brother Naoki Ota (Waseda Univ.) ran at last December's National Championships. C-heat winner Rodgers Kwemoi (Aisan Kogyo) rounded out the count with a 27:54.03 for the win.

But the fastest men's 10000 m time of the weekend came at Kanagawa's Nittai University Time Trials meet. There Stanley Waithaka (Yakult) soloed a 27:19.16 to take the top spot in Saturday's A-heat. Ryota Natori (Konica Minolta) had the fastest 5000 m mark, winning the A-heat in 13:44.39. In the B-heat three members of Hakone Ekiden champ Komazawa University's new lineup broke 14 minutes, bringing the total number of Komazawa runners this year with sub-14 bests up to 16. Shunsuke Yoshii (Sendai Ikuei H.S.), younger brother of 5000 m U20 NR holder Yamato Yoshii (Chuo Univ.), won the 1500 m A-heat in 3:47.35.

Newcomer Judy Jepngetich (Shiseido) made a splash with an 8:59.58 win in the women's 3000 m A-heat, almost 9 seconds up on runner-up Ai Hosoda (Edion). Another Japan-based Kenyan, Dorphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.), won the 5000 m A-heat in 15:54.05, with club runner Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) 2nd in a season best 16:07.16.

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Batt-Doyle and Strintzos Break Records at Launceston Half

Australians Isobel Batt-Doyle and Haftu Strintzos turned in record-breaking performances to win the McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania. Running with a private male pacer, NR holder Batt-Doyle dusted the field with the fastest half marathon ever by an Australian woman on Australian soil, a 1:08:46 CR that put her 2 and a half minutes ahead of runner-up Genevieve Gregson . Last year's runner-up Yumi Yoshikawa was almost a minute back from Gregson in 3rd in 1:12:03, but was almost run down by club runner Ayaka Shimoyamada . Starting slow in her international debut, Shimoyamada moved up from 7th over the 2nd half of the race to finish 4th in 1:12:06, kicking hard in the home straight to try to catch Yoshikawa and momentarily blacking out after finishing. Kaho Onishi was 7th in 1:12:45 in her own international debut. The men's half had pacing set at 2:53/km to try to deliver the first-ever sub-61 half marathon on Australian soil. CR holde...

CHN and JPN National Records Go Down - Weekend Track Update

There weren't any Japanese athletes in action at the Rabat Diamond League meet Sunday, but 2 lower-tier domestic meets produced new national records. At the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama, Samuel Kibathi (Toyota) led the top 5 in the men's 10000 m under 28 minutes in 27:39.97. In 3rd, China's Wenjie Wang took just over a second off his own NR from the same meet last year, setting a new record of 27:47.53. His teammate Haoran Tang was 6th in a 28:27.44 PB, with the top Japanese time in the race being a 28:33.39 for 8th from Jin Yuasa (Toyota). Amazingly, Wang and Tang were back the next day on day 2 of the Nittai meet, Wang running a PB of 13:35.58 for 4th in the A-heat and Tang winning the B-heat in a PB of 13:38.80. Isaac Ndiema took the A-heat in 13:26.49, with the fastest Japanese time going to Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu) with a 13:35.94 for 5th behind Wang. Other Nittai highlights: Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) won a photo finish against Yua Nagamori ...

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