Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the 2021-22 fiscal and academic year had some good early-season outdoor track action at multiple meets across the greater Tokyo area. In Chiba, 2016 Rio Olympics steepler Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) met up with 2021 Tokyo Olympics steepler Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.) over 3000 m at the Juntendo University Time Trials on Saturday. Last year at another edition of the Juntendo series Miura bettered Shiojiri 7:48.07 to 7:53.68. Shiojiri ran almost the same time, 7:53.44, but this time he took the top spot as Miura ran 7:55.43 for 2nd. Five other runners from the Fujitsu and Juntendo teams were under 8:05, led by Fujitsu's Yuhei Urano in 8:01.78 in his first race since running 2:07:52 for 3rd at the Feb. 28 Osaka Marathon. 1st-year Kenshin Ebisawa (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) took the men's 10000 m in 29:31.42.

どちらも素晴らしいランニングフォームと接地だが、上肢の使い方(筋力含む)が股関節の動きの違いに繋がってる。 pic.twitter.com/70wqHaY4SH
— 林田章紀/Akinori Hayashida (@RindaEX) March 26, 2022

Sub-8 times for 3000 m used to be rare in Japan, but another one happened Sunday at the Tokai University Time Trials. Tomoki Ichimura from hosts Tokai University soloed a 7:58.26 for the win, the only man to go under 8:05. Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) won the men's 5000 m fast heat in 13:52.85, with Tomohiro Chimori (Chuo Univ.) winning the men's 10000 m fast heat in 29:27.57. Yamada Holdings runners went 1-2 in the women's 3000 m, Harumi Okamoto getting the win in 9:21.83 and Sakiho Tsutsui 2nd in 9:27.69.

Saturday's Heisei Kokusai University Time Trials didn't produce any fast times, but the men's 5000 m A-heat was notable mostly for who was in it. All-time Japanese #3 for 10000 m Tatsuhiko Ito won in 14:06.44, with his 2022 New Year Ekiden champion Honda teammates Shoya Kawase and Ken Nakayama 4th and 8th in 14:16.47 and 14:35.74. All-time high school 10000 m #3 Shunsuke Yoshii (Sendai Ikuei H.S.), younger brother of 2022 Hakone Ekiden First Stage winner Yamato Yoshii (Chuo Univ.) was 3rd in 14:12.61, with 2:08:28 marathoner Daisuke Hosomori (YKK) 6th in 14:21.96.

Along with Tokyo Olympian Kosei Yamaguchi's win at the Melbourne Track Classic last weekend, two domestic meets also had good results. On Monday's public holiday, Komazawa University duo Kotaro Shinohara and Chikara Yamano followed up on their incredible runs at February's National Corporate Half Marathon with a 1-2 at the Tokai University Spring Time Trials meet. Shinohara took 1st in 13:45.65, with Yamano next in 13:57.32. Two days earlier, last year's top Japanese half marathoner Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) won the Miyazaki Time Trials men's 10000 m in 28:09.50, a second and a half ahead of teammate Benuel Mogeni Magoma.

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

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