10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku, Yasukawa Denki, Chugoku Denryoku, Aisan Kogyo, JR Higashi Nihon, Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi, getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and getting there ahead of their teammate has a real impact on their futures.

A lot of the top Japanese people will be targeting 27:50 in Heat 7 at 18:30, but the main event is Heat 8 at 19:05. It's being set up to try to deliver Tokyo World Championships standard performances, Japan's first sub-27, or at least a new NR. The withdrawal of current 27:09.80 NR holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu), all-time #4 Jun Kasai (Asahi Kasei) and #6 Ren Tazawa (Toyota) doesn't help the chances of that happening, leaving Mebuki Suzuki (Toyota), #8 at 27:26.67, Takuya Hanyu (Toyota Boshoku), #9 at 27:27.49, and Ayumu Kobayashi (NTT Nishi Nihon), #10 at 27:28.13, as the top people on the list. Kotaro Shinohara (Komazawa University), 27:35.05, Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima), 27:43.11, and Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko), 13:10.69 for 5000 m, are the only other Japanese men in the race, getting a boost from another seven Japan-based Kenyans led by 26:54.76 man Richard Kimunyan Yator (Logisteed).

A special addition is Indian record holder Gulveer Singh, who beat Suzuki and Shinohara while setting a new 5000 m NR of 13:11.82 in Niigata in September. Hiroaki Oyagi, coach of both Suzuki and Shinohara, told JRN, "Suzuki's training in the U.S. went well, and he's ready to do something special. Shinohara is interesting too." In the Niigata 5000 m Shinohara ran a PB of 13:15.70, the fastest outdoor time ever by a Japanese-born collegiate runner that matched his 1:00:11 half marathon best, also the fastest time ever by a Japanese-born collegian. 27:21.51 or better would be enough to add the 10000 m to that list, giving him a solid case for the title of Japan's best-ever collegiate runner.

The entire meet will be streamed live on Youtube starting at 15:00 local time Saturday. Full meet schedule and entries are here. JRN will be on-site to cover the meet live.

'2024 IAU 100k World Championships Results: Jumpei Yamaguchi and Floriane Hot Win Gold'

Silver two years ago , Japanese NR holder Jumpei Yamaguchi took gold at the IAU 100 km World Championships Saturday in Bengaluru, India. Defending gold medalist Haruki Okayama was bronze this time, with Toru Somiya just over 2 minutes behind Okayama in 4th. Japanese women were shut out of the medals, 24-hour world record holder Miho Nakata placing highest at 4th. Complete report and results here: https://www.irunfar.com/2024-iau-100k-world-championships-results photo © 2024 Tarzan Aqzawa, all rights reserved

Miu Saito Moves up Steeplechase All-Time List at Edion Distance Challenge

The last big track time trial of the season, probably, Saturday's Edion Distance Challenge had its biggest result in its smallest event. With only 3 women on the starting line, the 3000 mSC saw Miu Saito from Nittai University move up from all-time Japanese #9 to #8 with a 9:45.62 PB that put her almost 35 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. Panasonic 's Nanami Watanabe took the women's 5000 m fast heat in 15:29.67, but a lot of the main competition, Kae Gyu from National Corporate Women's Ekiden winner Japan Post , Yuma Yamamoto , Risa Sasaki and Tomoka Kimura from runner-up Sekisui Kagaku , top-tier collegians Nanaka Yamazaki , Nanase Tanimoto and Haruka Ogawa , and others just looked tired. Only 8 women broke 16 minutes, and with 7 others going sub-16 in the B-heat better seeding might have produced better races. Some Japan Post runners did do well in the women's 10000 m fast heat, with Miyaka Sugata winning in 31:42.28 and Caroline Kariba 3rd in 3...

800 m NR Holder Ko Ochiai Heads to Komazawa University

Men's 800 m national record holder Ko Ochiai , 18, a 3rd-year at Shiga Gakuen H.S. , will go to ekiden powerhouse Komazawa University after his graduation in March. Ochiai won this year's National Championships 800 m in June, and at July's National High School Championships he ran a 1:44.80 NR to win for the second year in a row. His time there was almost 1 second under the old record of 1:45.75 set by Sho Kawamoto in 2014 and equalled by Hiroki Minamoto in 2021. In August he became the first Japanese athlete to make a World U20 Championships 800 m final, winning bronze. Hope are high that he will continue to lead Japanese middle distance into new territory. Ochiai's immediate goal is to make the Tokyo World Championships next year. After coming back from the World U20 Championships he told reporters, "I want to become someone who can make the final and go for a medal, not someone who is just targeting making the team." Regarding the 1:44.50 qualifying stan...

japan running news

Search This Blog