Kimunyan Runs Fastest-Ever 10000 m in Japan, Iizawa Up to 1500 m All-Time #2

Kimunyan Runs Fastest-Ever 10000 m in Japan, Iizawa Up to 1500 m All-Time #2 - Weekend Track Update

Three big pre-ekiden season meets happened this weekend and produced some big results. Saturday at the Nittai University Time Trials in Yokohama, Richard Kimunyan (Hitachi Butsuryu) and Benard Koech (Kyudenko) pushed each other under Josphat Ndambiri's longstanding 10000 m Japan all-comers record of 26:57.36, Kimunyan setting the new record at 26:54.76 and Koech next in 26:55.04. Those times made them the only Kenyans under 27 minutes this year worldwide, with the Hachioji Long Distance meet still to come next month. Three others were under 27:30 led by Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) in 27:12.84, with Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) the top Japanese man at 6th in 27:53.00.

Justus Soget (Honda) took the 5000 m A-heat in 13:24.01, the top five all under 13:30 and another Fujitsu runner, Olympian Hiroki Matsueda, filling the top Japanese spot at 8th in 13:34.62. Harumi Okamoto (Yamada Holdings) won the women's 5000 m A-heat in 15:49.72, and Kenyan Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) led the 3000 m in 8:49.31.

The biggest news at Niigata's Athletics Challenge Cup was in the men's 1500 m, where Kazuto Iizawa (Tokai Univ.) ran a hard solo last lap to moved up to all-time Japanese #2 in 3:36.55. Iizawa's time was also the fastest-ever by a Japanese-born collegiate runner, 0.04 under the time Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.) ran in April. 8 of the 10 fastest Japanese men's 1500 m times ever have now been run since July 17, 2021, with only one having happened before July 9, 2019. Abraham Guem (Ami AC) was the only other runner under 3:40, running 3:39.35. Yume Goto (Toyota Jidoshokki) won the women's 1500 m in 4:10.79.

Olympian Yuta Bando (Fujitsu) ran the fastest Japanese men's 5000 m time of the weekend, taking the A-heat win in Niigata in 13:21.94. Shunsuke Yoshii (Chuo Univ.), younger brother of former U20 5000 m NR holder Yamato Yoshii, ran 13:40.26 for 5th, while the holder Yoshii, also at Chuo, was 13th in only 14:19.19. Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) had a solid win in the women's A-heat in 14:56.81, with National Corporate Championships 10000 m winner Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) negative splitting the B-heat in 15:01.62 for the win. Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) took the women's 800 m in 2:04.41.

At the Chugoku Corporate Time Trials meet in Hiroshima, Anthony Maina (Toyota Kyushu) turned in a solid 27:41.70 for the 10000 m A-heat win by less than a second over Evans Kipkemei (JFE Steel). Cleophas Kandie (Mitsubishi Juko) took the 5000 m A-heat in 13:26.62. Marathoner Rei Ohara (Tenmaya) had her best race in a long time, winning the women's 5000 m in 15:55.70.

Takeshi Soh Reflects on 54 Years in the Sport on His Retirement as Asahi Kasei Head Coach

After 54 years at the Asahi Kasei corporate team, first as athlete and then as coach, Takeshi Soh will retire at the end of this month. Together with his twin brother Shigeru Soh they formed a duo who were icons of the Japanese marathoning world and went all the way to the Olympics. After retiring from competition Takeshi devoted himself to coaching young athletes and came to play a primary role in the leadership of Japanese long distance. His list of achievements is long, and so is the list of those he influenced and inspired. His twin Shigeru was chosen for three Olympic teams in the marathon, Montreal in 1976, Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984. Takeshi was named to the Moscow and Los Angeles teams, placing 4th in L.A. to confirm his position as one of the greatest names in the sport in that era. After becoming a coach the twins helped lead Hiromi Taniguchi to gold at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships, Koichi Morishita to silver a year later at the Barcelona Olympics, and o...

Evaluating the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV Awards

The JAAF held the award ceremony for its Japan Marathon Championship Series IV last night in Tokyo, the whole thing streamed live on Youtube. The two-year series, in this case running from April, 2023 to March, 2025, scores marathoners on time and place in domestic races and high-level international races, with athletes' two best performances combining to give them their series rankings. Series winners score guaranteed places on the 2025 Tokyo World Championships team , with the top 8 women and men earning prize money: 1st: ¥6,000,000 (~$40,000 USD) 2nd: ¥3,000,000 (~$20,000) 3rd: ¥1,000,000 (~$6,700) 4th: ¥800,000 (~$5,300) 5th: ¥700,000 (~$4,700) 6th: ¥500,000 (~$3,300) 7th: ¥300,000 (~$2,000) 8th: ¥200,000 (~$1,300) Points for time are scored according to World Athletics scoring tables, with placing points based on races' designated level. Given the JAAF's financial interests in the big domestic races and the income stream from their TV broadcasts, the scoring system ...

Weekend Road and Track Roundup

A roundup of the main road and track action on the last weekend of Japan's 2024-25 academic and fiscal year: Doubling off a 2:07:06 PB at the Tokyo Marathon 4 weeks ago, Tatsuya Maruyama took bronze at the Asian Marathon Championships in Jiaxing, China in 2:11:56. Gold went to North Korea's Il Ryong Han in a breakaway 2:11:18, with silver medalist Tianyu Chen of China just ahead of Maruyama in 2:11:50. Japan's Shungo Yokota was a distant 4th in 2:14:00, with Japan-based Mongolian NR holder Ser-Od Bat-Ochir 6th in 2:15:14. Japanese women Kaede Kawamura and Natsumi Matsushita were 5th and 6th in 2:31:26 and 2:34:40, with medals going to China's Bing Wu , gold in 2:26:01, North Korea's Kwang-Ok Ri , silver right behind her in 2:26:07, and defending gold medalist Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh landing in bronze this time in 2:28:56, her third sub-2:29 performance so far in 2025. Back home, four men broke 2:20 at the Fukui Sakura Marathon . Ko Kobayashi from the Shi...

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