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

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview

The Nagoya Women's Marathon , the world's largest women-only marathon and the last race in the selection cycle for September's Tokyo World Championships, happens Sunday. Weather conditions are looking better than what they had in Tokyo and Osaka the last two weekends, 7˚ at the start and rising to 12˚ with sunny skies. The wind looks a bit stronger than ideal, but it could be worse. Fuji TV has the live broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. Sunday local time, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch the TVer streaming . One option for a leaderboard is here , and another here . We'll have some coverage on @JRNLive . Just like last time around there are three Ethiopian and Kenyan-born athletes at the top list, this time it being sub-2:20 women Sheila Chepkirui , winner in NYC last year, and Ruti Aga , winner in Xiamen in January, and last year's Nagoya runner-up Eunice Chebichii Chumba . But last year Yuka Ando still pulled off the win, so there's a c...

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...

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