National Corporate Track and Field Championships Preview and Streaming

The National Corporate Track and Field Championships happen in Gifu over the next three days, a late-season meetup for non-distance runners in Japan’s corporate leagues and a chance for distance runners to see where they’re at after summer base training just before ekiden season kicks off. The entry lists always promise a lot that the start lists can’t deliver, and especially with the Asian Games starting next week it’s inevitable that a lot of the big names won’t really be there. Complete meet schedule here.

As of this writing only the distance event start lists have been released. The junior women’s 3000 m at 17:00 Friday is pretty much a head-to-head between Janet Nyiva (Panasonic), 8:49.32, and Esther Wangui (Starts), 8:53.21, the main question being whether they can hit Tokyo Marathon winner Rosemary Wanjiru’s 8:48.44 meet record from 2014.

The women’s 10000 m starts at 18:45 Friday and features Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) as its top seed at 30:20.97. All sub-31:30, Rina Goshima (Shiseido), Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) and Eva Cherono (Toto) are her main competition, with sub-32 women Dolphine Omare (U.S.E.), Hina Yanagitani (Wacoal), Wakana Itsuki (Kyudenko), Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) and Yuka Takashima (Shiseido) also on the list.

In the women’s 3000 mSC, 16:15 Saturday, Olympian Yuno Yamanaka (Ehime Ginko) makes a return to her specialty event after focusing on other distances this season. Her 9:38.19 puts her in direct competition with Manami Nishiyama (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo), 9:39.28, to go for NR holder Minori Hayakari’s meet record of 9:48.55 from way back in 2010.

The men’s 3000 mSC 20 minutes later has Philemon Kiplagat (Aisan Kogyo) as its top seed at 8:22.79, his top competition coming from Taisei Ogino (Asahi Kasei), 8:31.02, and Yutaro Niinae (Aisan Kogyo), 8:34.92. Kiplagat would need a PB to hit the 8:21.36 MR set by Nahom Mesfin in 2010.

The men’s 10000 m happens at 19:00 Saturday. Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) leads the field at 27:07.59, followed closely by Benson Kiplangat (Subaru), 27:09.83, Evans Keitany (Toyota Boshoku), 27:11.88, Jonathan Ndiku (Logisteed), 27:12.84, Sitonik Kiprono (Kurosaki Harima), 27:14.76, Stanley Waithaka (Yakult), 27:19.86, and another five men under 27:30. Ayumu Kobayashi (NTT Nishi Nihon) is the top Japanese seed at 27:57.99.

Sunday the women’s 5000 m fast heat goes off at 16:20. Judy Jepngetich (Shiseido) and Rebecca Mwangi (Denso) are the only ones under 15 minutes at 14:50.20 and 14:57.79, but Nyiva, Ekarare, Esther Muthoni (Nitori) and Joan Kipkemoi (Kyudenko) all have recent times under 15:10. Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) is the top Japanese entrant at 15:19.98.

The men’s 5000 m fast heat happens at 17:40 Sunday. Kiplangat is the favorite at 13:02.74 if he can handle the double from the 10000 m the day before, the only runner in the field under 13:10. Justus Soget (Honda), Joseph Karanja (Aichi Seiko) and Cosmas Mwangi (Chugoku Denryoku) all have recent times under 13:20, with the fastest Japanese man being Nagiya Mori (Honda) at 13:28.35.

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

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...

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...

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