Skip to main content

Endo Runs JPN #2 5000 m Time, Sato Hits U20 NR in Nobeoka


The Golden Games in Nobeoka meet lived up to hopes, with indoor 5000 m NR holder Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) kicking for the win in the toughest 5000 m heat of the day. Conservative early on, Endo moved up mid-race past U20 1500 m and 3000 m NR holder Keita Sato (Komazawa Univ.) and U20 5000 m NR holder Yamato Yoshii (Chuo Univ.) to position himself in a lead group that included Richard Kimunyan (Hitachi Butsuryu), Benard Koech (Kyudenko), Evans Keitany (Toyota Boshoku) and other top Japan-based Kenyans.

With one lap to go Endo kicked hard enough to bring Suguru Osako's NR into range, and improbably he held off Keitany and the rest of the competition over the last 200 m to win in a meet record 13:10.69. That was enough to move him up to all-time #2 on the Japanese charts, just 2.59 seconds off Osako's record and well inside the qualifying time for this summer's Oregon World Championships. And that was enough to bring him to instant tears in his post-race interview after having missed the Olympic team last year.

Keitany and 3rd-placer Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) were both under the MR too, and behind them the hits kept coming. In 15th, Sato clipped almost 3 seconds off Yoshii's U20 record in 13:22.91 to add another line to his resume of records. Yoshii was 18th in 13:29.35, the 2nd-best time of his career. And in the other heats too. In the final heat, Emmanuel Kipchirchir (Kurashiki H.S.) won in 13:27.89. Taishi Ito (Waseda Univ.) ran an U20 #9 13:35.70. In the C-heat Sonata Nagashima (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) ran an all-time Japanese high schooler #5 13:37.46 for 2nd behind Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei).

The women's 5000 m A-heat didn't make it under 15 minutes, but it did have an even better last lap than Endo's. Kipchirchir's teammate Janet Nyiva (Kurashiki H.S.) tried to make a break for it, but right there with her was Judy Jepngetich (Shiseido). It was close enough that neither was 100% sure who got it, but when the board came up Jepngetich had the win by a tiny margin, 15:03.23 to 15:03.34. The top 6, all Kenyan, were under the Oregon standard, with the top Japanese spot going to Yuma Yamamoto (Meijo Univ.) in 15:23.30.

All around it was a stellar return for one of Japan's most classic meets, and with the 10000 m National Championships and Golden Grand Prix meet happening Saturday and Sunday in Tokyo there's a lot more to come.

33rd Golden Games in Nobeoka

Nobeoka, Miyazaki, 4 April, 2022

Men's 5000 m B-heat
1. Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) - 13:10.69 - MR
2. Evans Keitany (Toyota Boshoku) - 13:11.25 (MR)
3. Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) - 13:11.73 (MR)
4. Benard Koech (Kyudenko) - 13:13.38
5. Joseph Karanja (Aichi Seiko) - 13:14.20
6. Benson Kiplangat (Subaru) - 13:14.85
7. Justus Soget (Honda) - 13:15.33
8. Gideon Ronoh (GMO) - 13:16.51
9. Jackson Kavesa (Honda) - 13:16.81
10. Richard Kimunyan (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:19.44
-----
15. Keita Sato (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:22.91 - U20 NR
18. Yamato Yoshii (Chuo Univ.) - 13:29.35

Women's 5000 m A-heat
1. Judy Jepngetich (Shiseido) - 15:03.23
2. Janet Nyiva (Kurashiki H.S.) - 15:03.34
3. Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) - 15:04.26
4. Karoline Wanjiku Karaba (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 15:05.66
5. Joan Kipkemoi (Kyudenko) - 15:07.49
6. Naomi Muthoni Kariuki (Univ. Ent.) - 15:08.81
7. Yuma Yamamoto (Meijo Univ.) - 15:23.30
8. Cynthia Mbaire (Hitachi) - 15:40.95
9. Yuki Nakamura (Panasonic) - 15:41.42
10. Kazuna Kanetomo (Kyocera) - 15:47.24

Men's 5000 m A-heat
1. Emmanuel Kipchirchir (Kurashiki H.S.) - 13:27.89
2. Takato Suzuki (SG Holdings) - 13:29.80
3. Ken Yokote (Fujitsu) - 13:31.59
4. Allan Biwott (Mazda) - 13:32.80
5. Hiroki Abe (Sumitomo Denko) - 13:33.74
6. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) - 13:34.21
7. Kotaro Shinohara (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:34.28
8. Taishi Ito (Waseda Univ.) - 13:35.70
9. Daiki Ando (Asahi Kasei) - 13:36.70
10. James Muoki (Konica Minolta) - 13:39.66
-----
12. Shunsuke Yoshii (Chuo Univ.) - 13:43.22

Men's 5000 m C-heat
1. Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 13:36.84
2. Sonata Nagashima (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 13:37.46
3. Tomoya Nakamura (Osaka Gas) - 13:38.66
4. Jonson Mugeni (Yugakkan H.S.) - 13:39.78
5. Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 13:41.38
6. Yuya Ueda (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 13:43.14
7. Kento Nishi (Osaka Gas) - 13:43.66
8. Akito Terui (Subaru) - 13:44.04
9. Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) - 13:46.49
10. Masaki Kodama (Meiji Univ.) - 13:47.10

© 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

RigaJags said…
Fantastic run by Endo!
He was amazing the last few laps. Absolutely deserved win for the way he ran, last month he had a great race at the 1500m against Miura but today he was even more impressive.
Keita Sato had a solid debut in the college 5000m.
He's aiming to go under 13 minutes in this distance before he finishes college, let's see if he can do it. Encouraging start.
Yoshii had a good time in the end though he wasn't really up front after a couple of laps.
His brother had a good outing as well.

Komazawa's Shinohara is putting in solid performance after solid performance since January.

Now onto the 10000 nationals and the Tokyo meeting with Miura going back to the 3000SC against a very competitive field.
May 5, 2022 at 6:28 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...
3 comments
Read more

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...
1 comment
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more