Australia and Kenya Dominate at Fst in Fukuoka Mile and 5k

After a day of heavy rain conditions were pretty close to ideal for the 2nd edition of The Fst in Fukuoka road mile and 5 km, an appetizer event ahead of Sunday's mass participation Fukuoka Marathon. In her Japanese debut Australia's Sarah Billings had an easy win in the women's mile, outclassing Mami Yamaguchi (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ) 4:48 to 4:59. Stewart McSweyn made it an Aussie double with a win in the men's mile in a much closer race, running 4:02 with domestic favorites Masato Saiki (Fujisan no Meisui) and Yusuke Takahashi (Hokkaido Univ.) going 2-3 in 4:04 and 4:08.

The women's 5 km was the most competitive of the day, with a tight pack of 5 Japan-based Kenyans that whittled down to just last year's winner Teresiah Muthoni (Daiso), corporate half marathon champ Dolphine Omare (U.S.E.) and 2023 World XC relay gold medalist Mirriam Cherop (Shin Nihon Jusetsu) with a km to go. Muthoni kicked away over the last 200 m to take the win in 15:35, with Omare just edging Cherop by a second for 2nd, 15:40 to 15:41. Post-race Muthoni did her winning interview on the podium in extremely impressive Japanese.

The men's 5 km saw a similar pack, in its case including former half marathon and marathon Japanese NR holder Yuta Shitara (Nishitetsu). That shook down to just 10 mile world best holder Benard Koech (Kyudenko) and newcomer Edwin Kisalsak, 9th on the competitive 2nd leg at last weekend's East Japan Corporate Ekiden to help the Fujisan no Meisui team qualify for the New Year Ekiden in its first appearance. It came down to a photo finish, both men clocking 13:28 but Kisalsak scoring the win. Shitara ended up 6th in 14:19.

2nd The Fst in Fukuoka

Fukuoka, 11 Nov., 2023

complete results

Women's Mile

1. Sarah Billings (Australia) - 4:48

2. Mami Yamaguchi (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 4:59

3. Kaede Oya (Kentaku Partners) - 5:02

4. Eina Tokura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 5:14

5. Honoka Kajiya (Fukuoka Univ.) - 5:26

Men's Mile

1. Stewart McSweyn (Australia) - 4:02

2. Masato Saiki (Fujisan no Meisui) - 4:04

3. Yusuke Takahashi (Hokkaido Univ.) - 4:08

4. Naoto Katayama (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 4:10

5. Riku Miyase (Hokkaido Univ.) - 4:15

Women's 5 km

1. Teresiah Muthoni (Kenya/Daiso) - 15:35

2. Dolphine Omare (Kenya/U.S.E.) - 15:40

3. Mirriam Cherop (Kenya/Shin Nihon Jusetsu) - 15:41

4. Eva Cherono (Kenya/Toto) - 15:45

5. Rebecca Mwangi (Kenya/Daiso) - 16:09

Men's 5 km

1. Edwin Kisalsak (Kenya/Fujisan no Meisui) - 13:28

2. Benard Koech (Kenya/Kyudenko) - 13:28

3. Nickson Lesiyia (Kenya/Nishitetsu) - 13:48

4. Nelson Mandela (Kenya/Obirin Univ.) - 13:54

5. Takumi Yokokawa (Tokyo T&F Assoc.). 14:03

6. Yuta Shitara (Nishitetsu) - 14:19

Saku Chosei H.S. Makes It 2 In a Row - National High School Ekiden Boys' Race

While the girls' race was a blowout by 2022 champ Nagano Higashi H.S. , the boys' race at Sunday's National High School Ekiden was a tense battle of turnover that saw all of the final top four teams take a stab at leading. 2023 3rd-placer Yachiyo Shoin H.S. handled the first 2 of the 7 stages in the 42.195 km race, with lead runner Rui Suzuki delivering a bold run on the 10.0 km First Stage that produced the fastest-ever time by a Japanese runner on the stage, 28:43, and put Yachiyo Shoin 29 seconds out front. Last year's Fifth Stage CR breaker Tetsu Suzuki ran Yachiyo Shoin down to put 2023 champ Saku Chosei H.S. into 1st on the 8.1075 km Third Stage, but Genta Sugano of last year's 8th-placer Sendai Ikuei H.S. had other plans and took the lead on the 8.0875 km Fourth Stage. Smiling and fist pumping to the crowd almost the entire way, Taketo Tsukada of last year's 6th-placer Omuta H.S. moved up from 3rd to 1st by 2 seconds over Saku Chosei on the 3.0 k...

Japan Post Holds Off Sekisui Kagaku to Win Queens Ekiden National Title

Japan Post was back on top at the Queens Ekiden corporate women's national championships Sunday in Sendai, holding off last year's winner Sekisui Kagaku over the second half of a race that came as close as 1 second to take 1st with a final margin of victory of 27 seconds. Sekisui Kagaku was out fast with a win on the 7.0 km opening leg by Erika Tanoura and a new CR for the 12:56 second leg by Yuma Yamamoto , 17 seconds better than her own CR from last year. Last year's 4th-placer Shiseido briefly led on the 10.6 km third leg with an excellent 33:17 stage win from Rino Goshima , but behind her Japan Post's Ririka Hironaka returned from her latest injury problems to pass Sekisui Kagaku's Sayaka Sato and hand off 6 seconds ahead. New recruit Caroline Kariba ran Shiseido down on the 3.6 km fourth leg and put Japan Post 22 seconds ahead of Sekisui Kagaku, but a duel of marathoners between JP's Ayuko Suzuki and Sekisui's Hitomi Niiy...

Nagano Higashi Girls Lead Start to Finish to Win National High School Ekiden

2022 National High School Ekiden girls' champion Nagano Higashi H.S. was back in force after a 5th-place finish last year, leading start to finish to win this year's national title Sunday in Kyoto. Lead runner Airi Mashiba kicked it off with a 19:30 stage win on the 6.0 km opening leg, something that head coach Fumio Yokouchi said later that he hadn't been expecting. That ended up being Nagano Higashi's only individual stage win in the 5-leg, 21.0975 km race, but the rest of its team ran well enough to hold a lead that was never less than 11 seconds but never more than 21. Last year's 4th-placer Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. spent most of the race in 2nd, but over the second half of the race Sendai Ikuei H.S. , 2nd last year by just 1 second, came from further back to run Kunei down on the anchor stage thanks in big part to a critical stage win on the 4th leg by Tsubomi Tezuka that put anchor Aoi Hosokawa in position to catch Kunei's Mizuki Oda . Nagano Higashi ...

japan running news

Search This Blog