Singh Breaks Indian 5000 m NR to Win Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup

After two days of flight cancelations and delays that ended up with him arriving in Niigata 4.5 hours before the race, Indian men's 5000 m NR holder Gulveer Singh came through with a record-breaking run to win the 5000 m on the first day of the Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup Continental Tour Bronze meet.

Set up as a shot at the 13:08.40 Japanese NR, the race went out with steady 63-second laps with pacing from 10-mile world best holder Benard Koech. After the pack settled out 2024 Komazawa University grad Mebuki Suzuki was at the front behind Koech with this year's Komazawa captain Kotaro Shinohara right with him. When a gap opened Singh moved up from 5th or 6th to go with them.

Koech stepped off at 4000 m leaving Suzuki to lead, Shinohara struggling to hang on and coming back twice after falling off. At the bell Singh went to the front, and with a 55-second last lap he held off Suzuki in the last 100 m to win in 13:11.82, 7 seconds under his old NR. Suzuki ran a PB 13:18.80 for all-time Japanese #9, with Shinohara running 13:15.70, the fastest-ever outdoor 5000 m by a Japanese-born collegiate runner and 10th-fastest ever by a Japanese man, for 3rd.

"I'm very happy," Singh told JRN post-race. "That was better than I was expecting." Disappointed at missing the Japanese record, Suzuki said, "It was OK. I'd give it about an 80%." Celebrating after finishing, Shinohara said, "That was great! Next up Izumo!"

The women's 5000 m was mostly a four-way battle between Hellen Ekarare, Mirriam Cherop, Tabitha Njeri Kamau and Caroline Kariba, Olympian Haruka Kokai the only Japanese woman to try going with them at 3:02-3:03/1000 m but dropping off after a few laps. Ekarare did most of the leading until Cherop made a jab with a move to the front after 3000 m that motivated the others to all take turns surging. But Ekarare had the close to pull away over the last 1000 m for the win in 15:08.51. Cherop was next in 15:13.56 and Njeri 3rd in 15:14.62, with Kokai hanging onto the top Japanese spot at 5th in 15:31.42.

Miriam Njeri of Sendai Ikuei H.S. won the U20 women's 3000 m by over 16 seconds in 9:07.82, with Saki Katagihara taking the 1500 m in 4:15.76 over Korean Yu Jin Kim. Nanako Matsumoto won the 400 m in 52.74. On the field, in her final competition Australia-resident brit Jade Lally won the discus throw for the third year in a row with a 59.77 m on her final attempt. In the absence of NR holder Sumire Hata, Maya Takeuchi won the long jump with a 6.11 m (-1.0) last-round jump, equalling leader Ria Kitada but surpassing her 2nd-best jump at 6.05 m (+0.3) to Kitada's 5.98 m (0.0).

Korean Jong Hak Park outran South Sudanese Olympian Abraham Guem by 0.08 to win the men's 1500 m in 3:41.99, with Ryoto Aoki 3rd in 3:42.34 for top Japanese. 400 m NR holder Kentaro Sato out ran Joseph Nakajima, Fuga Sato and Sri Lankan Kalinga Kumarage for the win in 45.40. Masateru Yugami won the men's discus throw at 58.46 m.

Complete results here. The Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup continues Sunday, with the highlight being the 800 m featuring teenaged NR holders Rin Kubo and Ko Ochiai.

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR have announced details for the qualifying half marathon for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The Yosenkai qualifying race will be held Oct. 17 in Tachikawa, Tokyo. The combined times of the 10 fastest finishers from each participating team will be used for team scoring, with the 10 fastest teams going on the the main event next January and top-placing individuals from teams that do not qualify being names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team. One change from previous years is that the number of runners each school can enter has been increased from 14 to 16. Teams will still only be allowed to have from 10 to 12 athletes on the starting line, but the move gives coaches greater flexibility in making the final decision on their starting rosters. No changes have been made to the qualifying times of 34:00 for 10000 m or 1:13:00 for the half marathon, and the new earlier starting time of 8:30 a.m. introduced last year in an effort to mitigate ...

Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

2010 Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/21/10 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 47:53 2. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 48:07 3. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 49:43 4. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 51:37 5. Benita Willis (Australia) - 51:51 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) - 41:13 - WR 2. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 42:01 3. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 42:01 4. Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) - 43:03 5. Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia) - 43:08 ----- 14. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 45:31

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