Skip to main content

Hokuren Distance Challenge Abashiri Meet and Overseas Results


Conditions were too hot at this season's last Hokuren Distance Challenge meet Saturday in Abashiri for many really good performances, but there were a few, mostly by Japan-based Kenyans. In the men's 10000 m A-heat collegiate record holder Richard Etir (Tokyo Kokusai Univ,) soloed a 27:37.85 for the win by almost 23 seconds, the only man to get under 28 minutes. Caroline Kariba (Japan Post) did the same in the women's 10000 m with a 31:02.70 PB for the win. Dolphine Omare (Uniqlo) and Rika Kaseda (Daihatsu) both made it under 32, Omare running 31:29.35 and Kaseda 31:42.92.

2025 national 5000 m champion Ryuto Igawa (Asahi Kasei) had what was probably the best Japanese performance of the meet, running a PB 13:23.13 for the win over Antipas Kibet (Komori Corp.). Fresh off a 3:36.58 PB at the HDC Kitami meet on Wednesday, Nanami Arai (Honda) was 3rd with another PB in 13:28.42. Top-tier Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) was one of the day's many DNFs. Stephen Muthini (Soka Univ.) beat 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) for the win in the B-heat 13:26.70 to 13:28.28.

Yvonne Chepkoskei (Higo Ginko) won the women's 5000 m A-heat in 15:09.06 by 20 seconds over Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post), with Mirriam Cherop (Shin Nihon Jusetsu Group) another DNF. Margaret Ekalale (Toyota Jidoshokki) won the women's 3000 m in 8:54.48, Nanaka Izawa (Starts) getting under 9 minutes for the first time in 8:56.33 and Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) 3rd in 8:58.40.

Overseas, NR holder Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance) was 7th in the London Diamond League women's 5000 m with a 14:34.10 season best. A corporate league quartet at the Night of Athletics meet in Belgium was dismal, first-year pro Taishi Ito (NTT Nishi Nihon) having the best performance of the four with a 13:40.89 for 10th in the men's 5000 m B-heat. Naoki Ota (Yakult), younger brother of 5 km and half marathon NR holder Tomoki Ota, was last in the B-heat in 13:59.51. 10000 m NR holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) was 2nd-to-last in the A-heat in 13:47.09, with half marathon collegiate record holder Kotaro Shinohara (Fujitsu) last in 13:55.90. Canadian Kieran Lumb won the B-heat in 13:12.54, with import local Isaac Kimeli taking the A-heat in 13:01.39.

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

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...
1 comment
Read more

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...
41 comments
Read more

Chisato Fukushima Selected as First Women`s 100 m Olympian in 56 Years

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080706-00000027-yom-spo http://www.47news.jp/CN/200807/CN2008070601000467.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On July 6 Rikuren announced that it has added women`s 100 m runner Chisato Fukushima (20, Hokkaido HiTec AC) to the Beijing Olympic team. Fukushima will become the first Japanese woman to compete in the Olympic 100 m since Ayako Yoshikawa ran in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Fukushima broke the Olympic B-standard of 11.42 with her national record-tying 11.36 mark at April`s Oda Memorial Meet. Although she won June`s National Track and Field Championships, Fukushima was not initially selected for the team as she did not meet the Olympic A-standard. In light of her victory at today`s Nambu Memorial Meet in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Rikuren reversed its decision and added her to the Olympic team lineup. Fukushima reacted to the news of her Beijing ticket by saying, "It hasn`t really hit me that it`s real yet. I would be honored to be the tri...
Post a Comment
Read more