Skip to main content

Tango, Kobe, and A Night at the Olympic Stadium - Weekend Racing in Review


The return of the legendary Ageo City Half Marathon was the biggest news this weekend, but high-level races were happening on the road and track across the country. On the roads, this season's top non-Kanto Region program Kwansei Gakuin University toppled four-time winner Ritsumeikan University to take the top spot at the 84th Tango University Ekiden Saturday in Kyoto. The season ender for Kansai Region schools, Tango saw 22 teams racing 84.5 km in 8 stages. Ritsumeikan led early with a stage win by first runner Yuta Nagasawa before being overtaken by Kansai University on the second leg. Kwansei Gakuin hovered in the top 3 until the 12.3 km Fifth Stage, where 4th-year Sota Ueda wrapped his college career by breaking his own stage record with a new mark of 35:18 to put KGU into the lead. That's where they stayed for the rest of the race, winning in 4:16:01.

The battle for 2nd was intense over the 11.7 km anchor stage. Kyoto Sangyo University overtook Kansai for 2nd, but with Ritsumeikan only 6 seconds behind in 4th at the start of the final leg it went right down to the end. Ritsumeikan anchor Kota Yamasaki proved the strongest of the three, putting Ritsumeikan into the runner-up spot in 4:18:27 by 9 seconds over Kyoto Sangyo and another 38 over Kansai.


One of Japan's biggest marathons returned Sunday as the Kobe Marathon saw 19,458 finishers in its first post-pandemic edition. It was a Kenyan double in the elite end of the race. Elkanah Langat took the men's race in 2:12:47, dropping Japan-based Benard Kimani (Comodi Iida), Clement Langat and Shunpei Oda (Komanechi RC) over the first 30 km to win by 40 seconds. Veteran Junichi Tsubouchi (Kurosaki Harima) came from over two minutes behind at halfway to run Oda down for 4th and top Japanese honors in 2:18:36.

67-minute half marathoner Sharon Kemboi took the women's race in 2:29:13 in her debut, dropping Ugandan Immaculate Chemutai after halfway for the win. 2022 Hokkaido Marathon winner Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) doubled back from a win at the Chiba Aqualine Marathon two weeks ago, starting conservatively with an opening 5 km split a minute slower than Kemboi and Chemutai's but catching the Ugandan around 32 km for 2nd in 2:35:19. After getting caught Chemutai lost four and a half minutes to Yamaguchi, taking 3rd in 2:39:41.

Yamaguchi's friend and rival Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab) was racing in Tokyo at the same time, where she ran 1:14:43 for her third-straight win at the Minato City Half Marathon. Men's winner Taichi Iino (Hiramatsu Byoin) made it two in a row for himself with a 1:05:31 course record.


Also Sunday in Tokyo, the Kanto Region University Time Trials meet returned to the new Olympic Stadium for the first time since the demolition of the old Olympic Stadium after years in exile at Kanagawa's Keio University Field. With ten heats of men's 10000 m on the program it was the lone women's 10000 m heat that proved the highlight of the night.

Top three Tomo Muramatsu (Ritsumeikan Univ.), Rio Einaga (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) and Yui Komatsu (Matsuyama Univ.) all ran PBs to finish within 0.49 of each other, Muramatsu taking the top spot in 32:27.29, Einaga next in 32:27.40 and Komatsu 3rd in 32:38.45. 4th and 5th placers Nanase Tanimoto (Meijo Univ.) and Hikaru Kitagawa (Osaka Geijutsu Univ.) were also under 33 minutes, making it one of the better collegiate women's 10000 m races in recent years. 3000 mSC university NR holder Reimi Yoshimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) was 14th in 33:59.99 in her debut at the distance, announcing post-race that she plans to relocate to the U.S. after graduating in the spring to pursue a career as a pro athlete instead of going the corporate league route.

Victor Kimutai (Josai Univ.) delivered the fastest time in the men's races, winning Heat 10 in a PB 28:35.74 by almost 5 seconds over Taisei Kiyono (Surugadai Univ.). Komazawa University's #1 half marathoner Chikara Yamano gave Ageo a miss to focus on the 10000 m instead, running 28:40.90 for 3rd. The top 12 in the fast heat all cleared 29 minutes.

Things were a little faster at Saturday's Chugoku Corporate Time Trials meet in Hiroshima, where Yamanashi Gakuin University grad Dominic Nyairo Omare (NTT Nishi Nihon) won the fastest men's heat in 28:22.09. The top 7 in that heat all broke 29 minutes, but a little more notable was Heat 2 where Ryuichi Yoshioka (Kyushu Univ.) won in 28:57.58, a rare sub-29 from a non-Kanto Region collegian. The women's 5000 m was an intramural workout-level performance by the Tenmaya corporate team, with Olympic marathoner Honami Maeda leading the team's five finishers in a conservative 16:04.47.

© 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

djb914bur@aol.com said…
My bad it says Elkanah Langat seeing Elkanah I probaly just thought Kibet
November 24, 2022 at 12:31 PM
Brett Larner said…
No problem, that was my initial reaction when I skimmed the results too.
November 24, 2022 at 4:32 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Kobe Marathon Elite Field

Sunday's Kobe Marathon has announced its elite fields, finally. Japanese athletes have a shot at qualifying for next fall's MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, if they go sub-2:27 for the first Japanese woman across the line or sub-2:09 for the first 3 Japanese men to do it. There aren't a lot of contenders to pull it off. On the women's side, Kaede Hagitani , Ayaka Shimoyamada and Kotomi Tsubokura all ran 2:31-32 PBs in the spring and will need to step it up a couple of notches to get there. 2:23 Kenyan Antonina Kwambai is perfectly positioned to help. On the men's side, Keijiro Mogi is closest with a 2:09:06 at last year's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Hiroto Kanamori his closest domestic competition with a 2:10:01 PB in Osaka in February. The international trio of last year's winner Barnaba Kipkoech , Elisha Rotich and Goitom Kifle all have recent 2:06-7 times and should help set it up for someone to get there, wh...
1 comment
Read more

Kenyan Graduate Student Athlete Posts Job Hunt for Ekiden Team on Twitter

A Kenyan runner who had tried to help lead his team to the Hakone Ekiden has taken an unusual approach to finding a post-graduation sponsor. Last week Patrick Kamau posted his job hunt on his Twitter account , saying, "I am looking for a club team or a corporate team where I can run in ekidens. I would be happy to run for any team that gave me a chance. I would be grateful for any opportunity and take it on with a positive attitude!" Kamau was 5th at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying race half marathon in 1:01:10 last year during his 4th year at Jobu University . But despite his efforts, Jobu never qualified for Hakone during his 4 years there. He is currently working on a graduate degree while looking for "a team that will let me continue my competitive career." Fans responded to Kamau's job search posting, saying, "I hope it works out for you!" "Good luck comes to those who work hard" and "Kamau is going to graduate school? Given...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite Field (updated)

Another big race on the MGC qualifying calendar has posted its elite fields, the Dec. 6 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon . It looks like a good race for the single MGC spot up for women under 2:27, and the 6 spots for men sub-2:09. Yuka Ando is the favorite in the women's race with a 2:21:18 in Nagoya 2 years ago, with her only real competition coming from Ayumi Morita , who broke 2:27 in Hofu last year but missed qualifying by not being the first Japanese woman across the line. CR holder Workneh Derese is back after his 2:06:58 win last year, leading Kenyan veteran Bedan Karoki and 4 Japanese men with a solid chance at sub-2:09, Tatsuya Maruyama , Ryoma Takeuchi , Shuho Dairokuno and Kento Nishi . Takeuchi set his 2:08:20 PB at Gold Coast in July, and Dairokuno is fresh off a great run at the final Kyushu Corporate Ekiden. Masatoshi Sakata , Yota Ifuku , Madoka Tanihara and Daiji Kawai have both come close to sub-2:09 in recent races and could factor in. 57th Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite...
1 comment
Read more