Olympic Steeplers Miura and Aoki Run 5000 m PBs in Kitami

Meet 4 of 5 in this year's Hokuren Distance Challenge series took place Wednesday in Kitami, Hokkaido. The men's 5000 m A-heat was the race of the day, with Tokyo 2020 steeplechase squad members Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.) and Ryoma Aoki (Honda) going 1-2 in PBs of 13:26.78 and 13:32.31. Still just 19, Miura moved up to all-time Japanese U20 #2 less than a second behind record holder and rival Yamato Yoshii's record of 13:25.87. Another steepler, although not part of the Olympic team, Yasunari Kusu (Ami AC) ran a PB of 13:48.40 to win the 5000 m B-heat.

Three women went under 15:20 in the women's 5000 m A-heat, Kenyans Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) getting the top spots in 15:15.82 and 15:16.73 and planned Olympic doubler Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) 3rd in 15:17.93. Paralympic team member Misato Michishita (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) was off the time she ran on Saturday in Abashiri but still picked up the win in the women's T11-13 5000 m, running 19:07.26. Men's T11 5000 m world record holder Kenya Karasawa (GSWC) had a good day, beating his Abashiri time by 14 seconds for the win in the T11-T13 men's race in 15:20.23.

The men's 10000 m produced four times under 28 minutes, all by Kenyans and led by Titus Wambua (SID Group) in 27:48.68. Olympic marathon squad alternate Shohei Otsuka (Kyudenko) was 9th in 28:37.41, 12 seconds off his PB. The women's 3000 m had two people under 9 minutes, again both Kenyan, Caroline Kariba (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) running 8:52.82 for the win and Dolphine Nyaboi Omare (U.S.E. RC) 2nd in 8:54.47.

The 2021 Hokuren Distance Challenge series wraps up Saturday in Chitose, Hokkaido.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

World Championships Medalist Racewalking Coach Mizuho Sakai Recognized With Highest Coaching Honor

The 2023 Mizuno Sports Mentor Awards recognizing excellence in coaching were held Apr. 23 in Tokyo. Toyo University assistant coach and race walking coach Mizuho Sakai was given a gold award, the program's highest honor, and expressed her thanks and joy in a speech at the award ceremony. The coach of 2023 Budapest World Championships men's 35 km race walk bronze medalist Masatora Kawano , Sakai said, "This is an incredible honor and I'm truly grateful. As a child I wanted to be in the sporting world and I've spent my life in that world. My end goal was always to play a supporting role for other athletes, so I'm honored to be recognized in this way." Sakai's husband Toshiyuki Sakai , head coach of Toyo's three-time Hakone Ekiden champion team, attended the awards gala with her and was also introduced to the audience. After bowing he took a seat in front of her and watched with warmth as she received recognition for her outstanding work. The Mizun

Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes - Weekend Road Roundup

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was back to running performances consistent with his other PBs with a 1:02:30 for 8th. His AGU teammate Kyosuke Hiramatsu was 10th in 1:04:00. Women's winner Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) also set a new CR in 1:09:57. Aoyama Gakuin runners took the top four spots in the men's half marathon at the Aomori Sakura Marathon , with Hakone alternate Kosei Shiraishi getting the win in 1:04:32 and B-team members Shunto Hamakawa and Kei Kitamura 2nd and 3rd in 1:04:45 and 1:04:48. Club runners took the other division titles, Hina Shinozaki winning the women's half

The Ivy League at the Izumo Ekiden in Review

Last week I was contacted by Will Geiken , who I'd met years ago when he was a part of the Ivy League Select Team at the Izumo Ekiden . He was looking for historical results from Izumo and lists of past team members, and I was able to put together a pretty much complete history, only missing the alternates from 1998 to 2010 and a little shaky on the reverse transliterations of some of the names from katakana back into the Western alphabet for the same years. Feel free to send corrections or additions to alternate lists. It's interesting to go back and see some names that went on to be familiar, to see the people who made an impact like Princeton's Paul Morrison , Cornell's Max King , Stanford's Brendan Gregg in one of the years the team opened up beyond the Ivy League, Cornell's Ben de Haan , Princeton's Matt McDonald , and Harvard's Hugo Milner last year, and some of the people who struggled with the format. 1998 Team: 15th of 21 overall, 2:14:10 (43

japan running news

Search This Blog