Keita Sato Breaks Indoor 5000 m NR by 18 Seconds at BU John Thomas Terrier Classic

Three weeks after running a 59:22 half marathon equivalent at the Hakone Ekiden, Komazawa University 2nd-year Keita Sato became only the second Japanese man ever to break 13:10 for 5000, taking over 18 seconds off the indoor 5000 m NR with a 13:09.45 for 10th at Boston University's John Thomas Terrier Classic.

After Hakone on Jan. 2 Sato took a week off to recover from what had been his first race longer than 11 km. Phasing back into training the week after that during exams, on Jan. 18 he flew to Boulder, Colorado for six weeks of training with OAC. On Jan. 22 he celebrated his 20th birthday, and on Jan. 24 the group flew to Boston. Throughout the race he stayed near the middle of the front pack, splitting 2:38.24-2:37:17-2:38.76-2:38.01-2:37.28 en route. His 3000 m split of 7:54.16 was 2 seconds faster than the only other indoor race he had ever run, a 7:56.41 for silver at last spring's Asian Indoor Championships.

Sato had been totally focused on building volume for his Hakone debut and only had the week with OAC to do speed work oriented toward the Terrier Classic 5000 m, but even so his time bettered his outdoor PB by 13.46 seconds and Hyuga Endo's Japanese indoor 5000 m record by 18.36 seconds. He was also 1.04 seconds off Kieran Tuntivate's 13:08.41 indoor 5000 m Asian area record, and 1.05 seconds from Suguru Osako's 13:08.40 outright Japanese national record.

"I thought I could run 13:07, but in the last 1000 m I just couldn't pick it up," Sato told JRN post-race. "There's still a lot of work to do. My stomach was bothering me and I had diarrhea, and I thought about not running at all. I think something I ate last night disagreed with me. I'm glad I did run, though."

After heading back to Boulder, Sato next races the 2 mile at the Feb. 11 Millrose Games, where he'll go for Osako's indoor 3000 m NR of 7:45.62.

John Thomas Terrier Classic 5000 m Scarlet Race

Boston University, Boston, 26 Jan. 2024

complete results

1. Edwin Kurgat (Under Armour) - 12:57.52 - PB

2. George Mills (OAC Europe) - 12:58.68 - NR

3. Yared Nuguse (OAC) - 13:02.09 - PB

4. George Beamish (OAC) - 13:04.33 - NR

5. Ben Flanagan (On Running) - 13:04.62 - PB

6. Joe Klecker (OAC) - 13:06.02

7. Morgan McDonald (OAC) - 13:07.30 - PB

8. Mike Foppen (Nike) - 13:08.60 - NR

9. Olin Hacker (NAZ Elite) - 13:08.76 - PB

10. Keita Sato (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:09.45 - NR

11. Mohamed Abdilaahi (Puma) - 13:16.43 - PB

12. Willy Fink (Under Armour) - 13:22.53

13. Maximilian Thorwirth (SFD75) - 13:29.00 - PB

14. Simon Bedard (Hoka One One) - 13:30.14 - PB

15. Jonas Raess (OAC) - 13:32.33

16. John Reniewicki (Under Armour) - 13:35.18

17. Mario Garcia Romo (OAC) - 13:57.24 - PB

Japan's First Goldless Day - Asian Athletics Championships Day Four Highlights

Day 4 of the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships was the first without a single gold medal going to Japan, but there were still enough silvers and bronzes to go around. Robyn Lauren Brown of the Philippines outclassed the rest of the women's 400 mH final field, taking gold in 57.50. Eri Utsunomiya and Ami Yamamoto made it a Japanese 2-3, Utsunomiya running 57.73 for silver and Yamamoto 57.80 for bronze. Yusaku Kodama also scored silver in the men's 400 mH, running 48.96 behind Qatari winner Bassem Hemeida 's 48.64. Yuki Yamasaki won bronze in the heptathlon with 5696 points, Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Voronina taking gold in 6098 and Swapna Barman silver in 5840. Teammate Karin Odama was 4th in 5487. Another bronze came in the mixed 4x400 m relay, with Japan running 3:15.71 behind India's 3:14.70 and Sri Lanka's 3:15.41. Naoto Hasegawa and Ryoichi Akamatsu both cleared 2.23 m in the men's high jump, Hasegawa finishing 4th overall and Akamatsu 5th. ...

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