Skip to main content

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.

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more