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10000 m National Championships Preview

Given all the breakthrough runs over 10000 m in Japan the last few weeks, enough to take Japan to 30 men sub-28 for the distance this year, it seems a bit odd to have the 10000 m National Championships happening this Sunday in Tokyo's National Stadium. But relative to the timing of ekiden season, the rest of the National Championships in the late spring, and next summer's Paris Olympics, it makes sense. NHKBS is broadcasting it live, with the men's race starting at 16:03 and the women's at 16:43.

The 27:00.00 would be a stretch at this point for any of the Japanese men in the race, but one woman, former 5000 m NR holder Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) has actually cleared the 30:40.00 standard before with a 30:39.71 at the 2022 Oregon World Championships. But that was before the qualifying window opened, so she'll have to try to continue to build back from the injuries she suffered last winter if she wants to hit the standard here. Her best this year is 31:35.12 at the Budapest World Championships, so if she doesn't clear the standard, a win here and something closer to or under the standard sometime in the spring would be enough to get her to Paris

Hironaka's main competition at 31:22.38 is women-only half marathon NR holder Rino Goshima (Shiseido), who broke Hironaka's CR on the opening leg of the Queens Ekiden at the end of November. Tomoka Kimura (Sekisui Kagaku) is a little ways back in 31:56.32 after sitting the Queens Ekiden out. Goshima's Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich is there as a de facto pacer, with the addition this year of the Wavelight pacing system, the red lights up front set for 30:50 and the green second set for 31:10. Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) is a dark horse coming in with a 15:19.98 best for 5000 m.

The men's race has a Kenyan pacer too, Sitonik Kiprono (Kurosaki Harima) the fastest in the race at 27:14.76. At 27:28.04 Ren Tazawa (Toyota) has dominated the distance domestically in the long absence of NR holder Akira Aizawa (Asahi Kasei), but Aizawa is back this time along with his catalyst for greatness, Tatsuhiko Ito (Honda). Kanta Shimizu (Subaru) is a threat for the win with a 27:31.27, and Tazawa's teammate Tomoki Ota (Toyota) rounds out the Japanese top 5 at 27:42.49. But with 16 Japanese men with sub-28 bests in the field it's likely to be another shinkansen-style race with some unpredictable results.

Many of the fastest Japanese men won't be there, having just dropped their big times in the last week or two. That includes Hakone Ekiden champ Komazawa University's Keita Sato, Mebuki Suzuki and Kotaro Shinohara, Jun Kasai (Asahi Kasei), 19-year old Sonata Nagashima (Asahi Kasei) and Chuo Gakuin University's Reishi Yoshida.

107th National Championships 10000 m Start Lists

National Stadium, Tokyo, 10 Dec. 2023
times listed are best within qualifying window

Women
Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) - 30:39.71
Rino Goshima (Shiseido) - 31:22.38
Tomoka Kimura (Sekisui Kagaku) - 31:51.05
Hina Yanagitani (Wacoal) - 31:56.32
Wakana Itsuki (Kyudenko) - 31:58.59
Yuka Takashima (Shiseido) - 31:59.60
Haruka Kokai (Daiichi Seimei) - 32:01.83
Madoka Nakano (Iwatani Sangyo) - 32:13.01
Mikuni Yada (Edion) - 32:13.03
Misaki Hayashida (Kyudenko) - 32:15.97
Yumi Yoshikawa (Uniqlo) - 32:18.01
Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) - 32:22.23
Rio Einaga (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 32:27.40
Tomo Muramatsu (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 32:29.14
Natsuki Omori (Daihatsu) - 32:29.56
Judy Jepngetich (Kenya/Shiseido) - 14:50.20
Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 15:19.98
Nanami Watanabe (Panasonic) - 15:25.48
Chikako Mori (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:30.39
Nagisa Shimotabira (Senko) - 15:30.91
Risa Yamazaki (Nittai Univ.) - 15:31.39
Minami Yamanouchi (Shimamura) - 15:32.86
Miyaka Sugata (Japan Post) - 15:35.73
Kazuna Kanetomo (Kyocera) - 15:39.91 

Men
Sitonik Kiprono (Kenya/Kurosaki Harima) - 27:14.76
Ren Tazawa (Toyota) - 27:28.04
Kanta Shimizu (Subaru) - 27:31.27
Tatsuhiko Ito (Honda) - 27:42.48
Tomoki Ota (Toyota) - 27:42.49
Akira Aizawa (Asahi Kasei) - 27:42.85
Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) - 27:43.11
Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) - 27:46.82
Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 27:48.22
Takashi Nanba (Toenec) - 27:48.27
Yuto Imae (GMO) - 27:50.93
Shunya Kikuchi (Chugoku Denryoku) - 27:51.64
Tatsuya Oike (Toyota Boshoku) - 27:53.79
Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) - 27:56.20
Minato Oishi (Toyota) - 27:57.32
Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) - 27:57.72
Ayumu Kobayashi (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 27:57.99
Shingo Moriyama (YKK) - 27:59.90
Daiki Hattori (Toyota Boshoku) - 28:02.22
Naoki Ota (Yakult) - 28:02.90
Ayumu Okawa (Press Kogyo) - 28:03.58
Hazuma Hattori (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 28:05.44
Yohei Ikeda (Kao) - 28:06.33
Takuya Kitazaki (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 28:07.10
Aritaka Kajiwara (Comodi Iida) - 28:08.21
Sodai Shimizu (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 28:12.47

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Stefan said…
I'd be surprised if Hironaka can beat the 30:40 standard. I don't think she is in that sort of form though she did run a very good 5000m race last weekend and excellent Ekiden leg the previous weekend. I'm expecting a close fight between her and Goshima. I think Haruka Kokai will run with the leading pack but whether she can hang on in the last 2km will be interesting. She is one who I hope will surprise on Sunday. Yuka Takashima ran an excellent Queen's Ekiden 5th leg so she is in excellent form. It should be a very entertaining race and one I'm looking forward to watching.
December 8, 2023 at 4:06 PM
Anonymous said…
What happened to Seira Fuwa? After injury her fitness was not the same, didn't hear she run any races.
The same also to Hitomi Niiya, after breaking the 10,000m national recored, she can't even run 3000m in 9 minutes.

December 9, 2023 at 3:27 PM
Brett Larner said…
Fuwa hasn't raced much, but they're still talking optimistically about her getting back to pre-injury levels. She also switched shoe brands after running the amazing times. Niiya has moved to the marathon and has taken two shots at the national record.
December 10, 2023 at 9:51 AM
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