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

Endo, Nishikawa and Yamakawa Announce Corporate Team Changes

The SG Holdings men's corporate team announced on Oct. 1 that long-distance athletes Hyuga Endo and Yuichiro Nishikawa have joined its roster after leaving the Sumitomo Denko team. Endo, 28, won the Junior Olympics 3000 m while at Koriyama Nishi J.H.S. before going on to Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. where he was the the top Japanese placer in the 5000 m at the National High School Championships 2 years in a row. After graduating from Gakuho Ishikawa he joined the Sumitomo Denko team, winning the National Championships 5000 m in 2021. He won gold at the 2023 Asian Championships and represented Japan at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. "I will give everything I have as part of the team and work hard toward helping it win the New Year Ekiden," he said of his new environment. Of his personal goals he said, "I want to focus on the 5000 m and reach new levels to compete internationally." Nishikawa, 28, was a member of Tokai University 's winning teams at the H...
Post a Comment
Read more

3 Athletes Provisionally Suspended After Positive Drug Tests at Asian Games (updated)

The International Testing Agency announced on Oct. 2 that provisional suspensions have been imposed on two athletes, Kazakhstan's Aiana Bolatbekkyzy in track and field, and Tajikistan's Issamjon Sharifov in tennis, after they tested positive for prohibited substances at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Aichi. Bolatbekkyzy, 19, tested positive for the steroid drostanolone in a sample collected during an in-competition test at the Games. A diuretic drug was found in the sample collected from Sharifov, 23. Update:  On Oct. 3 a third athlete, kurash wrestler Yash Kumar Chauhan  of India, was provisionally suspended after an in-competition test detected the steroid metandienone, the metabolic modulator GW1516, and the stimulant mephentermine in his system. source article: https://www.sanspo.com/article/20261002-X4FJLT5MMZKFND6WXPOESAKETQ/ translated by Brett Larner
Post a Comment
Read more