Skip to main content

Kimutai Does the Double at Tokorozawa Games


A key part of Josai University's school record 3rd-place finish at the Hakone Ekiden in January, 2nd-year Victor Kimutai did a quality double at Saturday's Tokorozawa Games at Waseda University. Running in the 3000 m fast heat at 10:20 a.m., Kimutai led a quartet most of the way on sub-8 minute pace before pulling away over the last two laps to win in a PB of 7:53.75. Teammate Itsuki Hirabayashi looked set for 2nd but was run down in the last 50 m by Waseda's Taishi Ito, who set a PB of 7:58.64 just two weeks after running the United Airlines NYC Half. Hirabayashi held on for 3rd in 7:59.18, his first time under 8 minutes.

95 minutes later Kimutai lined up again in the 1500 m fast heat, and again he scored the win with a 3:45.78 PB. Another one of his Josai teammates Tatsuki Yamanaka was right with him with a 3:46.02 PB for 2nd, with high schooler Yanab Naoki Yoshikura of Waseda Jitsugyo H.S. 3rd in 3:49.08.

Tokorozawa Games

Waseda University Field, Tokorozawa, 30 March 2024

Men's 1500 m Heat 1 
1. Yu Shibata (Josai Univ.) 3:48.41 
2. Shuto Iguchi (Keiho H.S.) 3:49.94 
3. Sora Matsuoka (Kyoto Gaikokudai Nishi H.S.) 3:52.78 
4. Toma Hino (Waseda Univ.) 3:53.76 
5. Kenta Mizuno (Josai Univ.) 3:59.13

Men's 1500 m Heat 2
1. Victor Kimutai (KEN/Josai Univ.) 3:45.78
2. Tatsuki Yamanaka (Josai Univ.) 3:46.02
3. Nayabu Naoki Yoshikura (Waseda Jitsugyo H.S.) 3:49.08
4. Kazumi Nakajima (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) 3:49.30
5. Umi Fukuda (Chinen Gakuen Nara H.S.) 3:49.47
6. Naoto Hamaguchi (Soka Univ.) 3:50.35
7. Shun Miyake (Kagawa Nishi H.S.) 3:50.81
8. Yuto Masaoka (Kumamoto Kogyo H.S.) 3:51.68
9. Manato Ozawa (Kamiina Nogyo H.S.) 3:52.12
10. Nagi Miyamoto (Josai Univ.) 3:53.58

Men's 3000 m SC
1. Kai Ogata (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) 8:50.66
2. Hikaru Kitamura (Waseda Univ.) 9:03.89
3. Takuma Nakayama (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) 9:11.68
4. Kosei Kusano (Waseda Univ.) 9:17.70
5. Yusei Kojima (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) 9:22.78

Men's 3000 m Heat 3
1. Hinata Kuroki (Soka Univ.) 8:09.69
2. Sora Saito (Soka Univ.) 8:14.11
3. Jo Fujinoki (Soka Univ.) 8:15.70
4. Yuto Wada (Waseda Univ.) 8:17.82
5. Haruyoshi Takeda (Waseda Univ.) 8:22.17

Men's 3000 m Heat 4
1. Hibiki Yoshida (Soka Univ.) 8:03.00
2. Joseph Githae (KEN/Yugakkan H.S.) 8:09.21
3. Shinjiro Fujimoto (Waseda Univ.) 8:11.59
4. Ryo Yoshida (Soka Univ.) 8:15.56
5. Ikuya Masuda (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) 8:19.20

Men's 3000 m Heat 5
1. Victor Kimutai (KEN/Josai Univ.) 7:53.75
2. Taishi Ito (Waseda Univ.) 7:58.64
3. Itsuki Hirabayashi (Josai Univ.) 7:59.18
4. Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) 8:01.42
5. Shunpei Yamaguchi (Saku Chosei H.S.) 8:03.80
6. Haruto Ishizuka (Waseda Univ.) 8:04.67
7. Junpei Maseda (Waseda Univ.) 8:06.07
8. Eiki Kogure (Soka Univ.) 8:08.67
9. Takumi Orihashi (Soka Univ.) 8:10.34
10. Yuta Kubode (Josai Univ.) 8:11.06

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

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, 7Ëš at the start and rising to 12Ëš 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 ...