High Schooler Mashiko 13:34.84 - Weekend Track Roundup

The National Sports Festival was the main thing happening this weekend, but with ekiden season just kicking off there were track time trial meets everywhere as teams shift focus from summer mileage to sharpening speed. Haruki Niizuma (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) made news with a 13:35.33 win in the junior men's 5000 m Friday at the National Sports Festival, but at Sunday's Nittai University Time Trials meet, held at Keio University this time because of construction work at Nittai, Yota Mashiko (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) beat Niizuma's time with a 13:34.84 PB.

Mashiko ran in an all-Kenyan lead group and was right there with Victor Kipkirui (Chudenko) and Stephen Muthini (Soka Univ.) til the end, Kipkirui kicking away in the last 100 m to win in 13:33.46 and Muthini next in 13:34.47. Mashiko's time was the best this year by a Japanese-born high schooler, and with Niizuma and Sei Yoshida (Tokai Sapporo H.S.), 13:35.14 in July, right there it looks like it's going to be a great high school boys' ekiden season.

Spanning Saturday and Sunday, the Chubu Corporate Track and Field Championships' biggest race was the men's 10000 m, where Kelvin Kiplagat (Aisan Kogyo) ran 27:46.68 to lead Simon Muthio Saidimu (Chuo Hatsujo) and James Muoki (Sekino Kosan) under 28 minutes. Komazawa University grad Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota) had the fastest Japanese time of the weekend at 28:16.47 for 6th.

The Setagaya Time Trials held in parallel with Chugoku in Tokyo Saturday saw Brian Kiptoo (Reitaku Univ.) take the 10000 m fast heat in 28:01.74, another former Komazawa member Chikara Yamano (Kraftia) running 28:18.70 for 3rd. Running his first race since his breakthrough 6th-place finish at the Sydney Marathon on Aug. 31, Masato Arao (ND Software) was 5th in the B-heat in 28:51.33, just over a second off his PB with his teammate Koichi Shoji winning in 28:47.24. Komazawa's Shintaro Kudo won the 5000 m A-heat in 13:42.22.

Things were pretty low-key in Hiroshima at Saturday's Chugoku Corporate Time Trials meet. The most notable result was a 28:33.55 win in the 10000 m fast heat by Shunya Kikuchi (Chugoku Denryoku), following up his 2:06:06 marathon PB in Osaka in February and 13:25.97 best for 5000 m in June. Even lower-key was Sunday's Kansai Distance Challenge in Nara, where the top performance was probably Hiroki Yamanaka's 13:55.01 win in the 5000 m A-heat. Yamanashi and his Osaka Gas teammates Kento Nishi and Masahiro Mekata took the top 3 spots and were separated by less than a second.

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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