Skip to main content

Karasawa Breaks T11 5000 m World Record - Weekend Track Roundup


Four out of five corporate regional championship meets went off as schedule this weekend, with the 51st Hokuriku Region meet in Ishikawa the only one to cancel amid the latest COVID-19 wave hitting Japan. 

The 63rd East Japan Region meet in Saitama was the biggest and fastest of those that did happen. The biggest news was in the T11-T13 men's 5000 m, where T11-class Kenya Karasawa (GSWC) won in 15:09.94, going a second and a half under the previous world record for his class. Sitonki Kiprono (Komori Corp.) turned in the only sub-28 men's 10000 m of the weekend, winning Saturday's A-heat in 27:47.69. Justus Soget (Honda) was likewise the only one to go sub-3:40 for 1500 m, winning Saturday's A-heat in 3:39:12. Soget doubled to win Sunday's men's 5000 m A-heat in 13:29.43 going close to 55 seconds for the final lap and ending up the only man under 13:30 for the weekend.


Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) won the East Japan women's 10000 m in 32:15.27 on Saturday. Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) won Sunday's 5000 m A-heat in 15:17.94 in a close race that saw the top four finish within less than 0.9 seconds of each other. Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) set a meet record 8:56.65 to win the 3000 m A-heat, the fastest 3000 m of the weekend. Cynthia Mbaire (Hitachi) won the 1500 m A-heat in 4:13.45, leading Naomi Muthoni Kariuki (Univ. Ent.) and Chikako Mori (Sekisui Kagaku) under 4:15. Mori doubled Sunday in the 3000 mSC, running a 9:50.67 meet record for the win.


At the 65th Chubu Region meet in Gifu, Rodgers Chumo Kwemoi (Aisan Kogyo) took the men's 10000 m A-heat in 28:09.99 by almost 10 seconds. His teammates Philemon Kiplagat and Kosei Yamaguchi went 1-2 in Saturday's 3000 mSC, Kiplagat in a meet record 8:26.50, then did it again in Sunday's 5000 m, Kiplagat running 13:31.10 and Yamaguchi 13:31.24. Kazuki Kawamura (Toenec) won the 1500 m A-heat in 3:42.67.

The women's races were mostly low-key, with Naoko Koizumi (Denso) winning the 10000 m in 34:06.71 and Momoka Kawaguchi (Toyota Jidoshokki) the 5000 m in 15:45.63. Kawaguchi's teammates Nozomi Tanaka and Yume Goto won the 3000 m and 1500 m in 8:58.54 and 4:14.29, with Ayano Ikeuchi (Denso) soloing a 10:21.79 meet record to win the 3000 mSC.


At the 65th Kansai Region meet in Osaka, two weeks after securing her place on the Tokyo Olympics 10000 m squad Yuka Ando (Wacoal) won the distance double, taking Friday's 10000 m in 31:58.55 and Sunday's 5000 m in 15:30.30. Olympic marathoner Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) was 3rd in the 10000 m and 2nd in the 5000 m just a week and a half after running a PB 1:08:28 to win the Olympic marathon test event half marathon.

In Kansai it was the men's races that were relatively low-key, Katsuhiko Suzuki (SGH Group) winning the 10000 m in 28:45.19, Ayumu Kobayashi (NTT Nishi Nihon) the 5000 m in 13:44.16, Yuki Ishii (NTT Nishi Nihon) the 1500 m in 3:45.30, and Jun Shinoto (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) the 3000 mSC in 8:48.13.

The 60th Chugoku Region meet in Hiroshima rounded out the weekend's action, having already held its 5000 m races last weekend. 5000 m winners Ai Hosoda (Edion) and Dan Kiplangat (JFE Steel) were back, Hosoda taking the women's 10000 m in 32:13.45 and Kiplangat the men's in a meet record 28:01.19.  After finishing in the top Japanese spot at last weekend's Olympic test event 5000 m just outside the Olympic qualifying time, Kaede Hagitani (Edion) set a meet record 8:58.67 in the 3000 m, while Donald Mitei (Chugoku Denryoku) took the men's 1500 m in 3:46.06.

Corporate regional action wraps up next weekend with the 64th Kyushu Region meet.

© 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

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
Post a Comment
Read more

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...
2 comments
Read more