Skip to main content

Hokuren Last Chance Meet Streaming and Preview


The JAAF has set up one last chance for its middle and long distance athletes to hit the qualifying standards for next month's World Championships, adding an early meet to the Hokuren Distance Challenge series today ahead of Sunday's deadline to qualify. Streaming starts at 16:00 local time. A breakdown of the races:
  • Men's 800 m - 16:15 - No Japanese man has ever broken the 1:45.20 Worlds standard, but national champion Mikuto Kaneko (Chuo Univ.) is close at 1:45.85. Given that he's currently 57th against the 800 m's 48-deep quota it'll take a NR for him to make it to Eugene.
  • Women's 1000 m - 16:25 - Nationals 800 m top 2 Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) and Nozomi Tanaka (Jidoshokki) are both relatively close to making the quota, but instead of going for the standard or maxing points they're opting for a go at Tanaka's 2:37.72 NR for 1000 m. Only 3 athletes are entered.
  • Women's 5000 m - 16:40 - Nobody in this race is in contention for the Oregon team, the fastest being Natsuki Omori (Daihatsu) at 15:28.32. Pacing for the field of 5 is planned for 15:35.
  • Women's 3000 mSC - 17:05 - Nationals runner-up Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) was one of the people who had a massive breakthrough two weeks ago, running a PB of 9:38.95. Pacing is planned for the 9:30.00 standard, 3 seconds faster than the NR, but while that might be a stretch another fast time could move Nishide up from her current rank of 49th in the 45-deep podium. If that happened it would knock Reimi Yoshimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) out of the quota, making it a surprise that Yoshimura isn't one of the people in the field of 3.
  • Men's 3000 mSC - 17:25 - Two Japanese men broke the 8:22.00 Oregon standard at Nationals, with 3rd-placer Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) just missing but currently in the top spot in the quota at 40th of 45. Like Yoshimura choosing to sit today out, that leaves Yamaguchi vulnerable to Nationals 4th-placer Yasunari Kusu (Ami AC), who ran a PB 8:25.70 there, and past national champ Hironori Tsuetaki (Fujitsu), 8:25.49 inside the qualifying window. If either hits the standard he'll replace Yamaguchi on the Worlds team.
  • Women's 1500 m - 17:40 - This was going to be a chance for Ran Urabe (Sekisui Kagaku), 43rd of 45 in the 1500 m quota, to score enough points to keep her inside the cut, but with Urabe a late scratch it's now down to whether Nationals runner-up Yume Goto (Toyota Jidoshokki) can score enough points to move up from her ranking of 50th. It would take the best performance of her career for that happen.
  • Men's 1500 m - 17:50 - Another race where the World standard is faster than the Japanese NR, but not by much. NR holder Kazuki Kawamura (Toenec) leads the field at 3:35.42 vs. the 3:35.00 standard, with support from Nanami Arai (Honda) and national champ Kazuto Iizawa (Tokai Univ.), both sub-3:39. One of the two biggest races of the meet, with 14 entrants and 2 pacers.
  • Men's 5000 m - 18:20 - The standard here is 13:13.50, and former steepler Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) is closest in the field with a recent 13:16.53. There were hopes that wunderkind Keita Sato (Komazawa Univ.) would have a shot, but at Nationals Sato looked tired and flat. With a full quota it'll take the standard for anyone to join national champ Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) on the team.
  • Women's 10000 m - 18:40 - A time trial for Nationals 2nd-placer Kaede Hagitani (Edion) to get the standard. She wasn't far off in her debut at Nationals last month, running 31:35.67, and with 2 pacers and a good run in the Nationals 5000 m two weeks ago there's a pretty good chance she'll be doubling in Oregon. Only 4 women are entered not including pacers.
  • Men's 10000 m - 19:20 - The top 3 at Nationals all went off to Hengelo to go for the standard and were blown out of the water, leaving top 2 Akira Aizawa (Asahi Kasei) and Tatsuhiko Ito (Honda) out of contention for the Oregon team. 3rd-placer Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) is giving it yet another go here, but with a best of only 27:48.22 it's not likely he'll bridge the gap to the 27:28.00 standard. Only Tomoki Ota (Toyota) looks capable of that, his best a solid 27:33.13. With support from the likes of Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) and Benard Koech (Kyudenko) maybe he'll get there. Rain forecast for late in the day might be one of the main factors.
Complete entry lists are available here.

© 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR have announced details for the qualifying half marathon for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The Yosenkai qualifying race will be held Oct. 17 in Tachikawa, Tokyo. The combined times of the 10 fastest finishers from each participating team will be used for team scoring, with the 10 fastest teams going on the the main event next January and top-placing individuals from teams that do not qualify being names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team. One change from previous years is that the number of runners each school can enter has been increased from 14 to 16. Teams will still only be allowed to have from 10 to 12 athletes on the starting line, but the move gives coaches greater flexibility in making the final decision on their starting rosters. No changes have been made to the qualifying times of 34:00 for 10000 m or 1:13:00 for the half marathon, and the new earlier starting time of 8:30 a.m. introduced last year in an effort to mitigate ...

Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

2010 Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/21/10 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 47:53 2. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 48:07 3. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 49:43 4. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 51:37 5. Benita Willis (Australia) - 51:51 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) - 41:13 - WR 2. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 42:01 3. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 42:01 4. Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) - 43:03 5. Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia) - 43:08 ----- 14. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 45:31