Karanja and Jepngetich Win National Corporate 5000 m Titles

Karanja and Jepngetich Win National Corporate 5000 m Titles - Day 3 Highlights

The 2023 National Corporate Track and Field Championships wrapped up Sunday at Gifu's Nagaragawa Stadium. Two of the three recent sub-13:10 men in the 5000 m took the top positions, Joseph Karanja (Aichi Seiko) getting the win in 13:27.31 and Cosmas Mwangi (Chugoku Denryoku) 2nd in 13:27.94. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) was a close 3rd in 13:28.54, with Yuto Imae (GMO) the fastest Japanese placer in 13:39.47 for 9th.

Favorite Judy Jepngetich (Shiseido) dropped another sub-15 to win the women's 5000 m in 14:57.63, with Esther Muthoni (Nitori) right behind her in 14:58.03. Susan Kamotho (Yamada Holdings) was 3rd in 15:04.73, with Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) the top Japanese finisher at 7th in 15:33.69.

In other track results:

In the men's 800 m, Daichi Setoguchi (Team SSP) won the national title in 1:48.81, Nozomi Tanaka (Team NB) taking the women's race in 2:03.98.
400 m national record holder Kentaro Sato (Fujitsu) won the men's 200 m final in 20.70 (-1.0), the video above, with women's winner Shuri Aono (ND Software) missing the MR by 0.04 as she ran 23.45 (-0.00 for the win.
Tatsuhiro Yamamoto (Seki AC) took the men's 400 mH in 49.71, Satsuki Umehara (Sumitomo Denko) becoming the women's champ in 57.75.
Shusei Nomoto (Ehime T&F Assoc.) won the men's 110 mH in 13.53 (+0.7). Yuki Omatsu (Sandelion) ran a strong 12.97 (+2.0) to beat NR holder Mako Fukube (NKK) by 0.07 for the win in the women's 100 mH.
The Rudolf team won the men's 4x400 m in 3:10.16.

In field events:

Sheriai Tsuda (Tsukiji Kindago) won the women's high jump title, clearing 1.85 m on her final attempt. Yuto Seko (HST) won the men's title at 2.24 m, with Budapest World Championships team members Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) and Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) 2nd and 3rd at 2.24 m and 2.21 m.
Budapest team member Naoko Takashima (Kyudenko) won the women's triple jump with a final attempt of 13.18 m (+2.2), the only woman to go over 13 m one of three attempts she made over 13 m. Hikaru Ikehata (Surugadai AC) got close to the men's MR of 16.63 m, jumping 16.37 m (+1.0) for the win on his 5th attempt.
Minori Tsujikawa (Uchida Yoko) won the women's discus throw on her 2nd attempt, throwing 51.81 m to better 2nd-placer Akane Kawaguchi's 51.00 m opening throw. Last year's winner Nanaka Kori (Niigata Albirex RC) was 3rd at only 48.44 m. Men's NR holder Yuji Tsutsumi (Alsok Gunma) had a narrow win over Masateru Yugami (Toyota), 56.86 m to 56.72 m.
Miharu Kodate (SomeQ) was the women's hammer throw winner at 63.05 m, surpassing leader Sara Fujimoto's 62.94 m on her final attempt. Tatsuto Nakagawa (Niigata Albirex RC) did almost the same in the men's hammer, throwing 70.56 m for the win on his 5th attempt and overtaking leader Yudai Kimura's 4th-round 69.38 m.

Complete results here. Many of the athletes who competed at the National Corporate Track and Field Championships will be in action again next week at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup, and elsewhere.

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...

Osaka Marathon Preview

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