japan running news

by Brett Larner Along with the men's 10000 m on the first day of competition, Japan-resident Kenyans swept the men's and women's 5000 m and 1500 m at the 2011 National Jitsugyodan Track & Field Championships, Sept. 24-25 in Tokushima.   Daniel Gitau  (Team Fujitsu), best known for his quadruple win in the 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and 10000 m at the 2009 Kanto Regional Track & Field Championships, doubled here with wins in the 1500 m and 5000 m, outkicking two-time world junior 3000 mSC champion Jonathan Ndiku  (Team Hitachi Cable) in both races.  The top collegiate 10000 m runner of 2010, Yusuke Hasegawa  (Team S&B) had the best run of his pro career as he finished 4th in the 5000 m in 13:34.70.  Along with  Yuichiro Ueno  and Kensuke Takezawa , S&B runners now hold three of the ten fastest 5000 m times of the year by Japanese men. Sally Chepyego  (Team Kyudenko), a teammate of men's 10000 m winner Paul Tanui  (Team Kyud...

by Brett Larner With unseasonably cool temperatures ahead of an approaching typhoon the Hokuren Distance Challenge Fukagawa Meet on June 25 saw a raft of significant PB performances. Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) led three Japan-resident Kenyans to the top of the men's 10000 m A-heat with a win in 27:43.82, but the trio had company from 5000 m national champion Kazuya Watanabe (Team Shikoku Denryoku) who was shooting for the Daegu World Championships A-standard of sub-27:40 but came up just short in a large PB of 27:47.79 In so doing Watanabe, the all-time #2 Japanese man over 1500 m best-known for blacking out meters before the finish while leading the 2008 National Championships 1500 m, became the first Japanese man to break both 3:40 and 28:00 . Missing the A-standard means that Watanabe will run only the 5000 m in Daegu. More of a shock than Watanabe were the next two runners after him, Komazawa University sophomore Ikuto Yufu and junior Hiromitsu Kakuage ...

2010 Hokuren Distance Challenge Shibetsu Meet - Top Finishers click here for complete results Men's 10000 m 1. Nahom Mesfin (Ethiopia) - 28:07.80 2. Yoshinori Oda - 28:20.09 3. Daisuke Shimizu - 28:29.85 Women's 5000 m 1. Kazue Kojima - 15:47.55 2. Mai Ito - 15:48.35 3. Chieko Kido - 16:03.16 Men's 5000 m A-heat 1. Takayuki Matsumiya - 13:39.75 2. Tsuyoshi Ugachi - 13:42.50 3. Ryo Kiname - 13:54.54 Men's 5000 m B-heat 1. Yushi Nowaki - 14:04.18 2. Yuki Moriwaki - 14:06.88 3. Jeon Eun Hoi (KOR) - 14:07.62 Women's 3000 m 1. Ayaka Mori - 9:26.39 2. Misaki Onishi - 9:27.06 3. Misako Suguro - 9:30.95 (c) 2010 Brett Larner all rights reserved

by Brett Larner The final meet in the 2009 Hokuren Distance Challenge series took place July 20 in Abashiri, Hokkaido, the last domestic opportunity for athletes to qualify for the Japanese national team for this year's World Championships. Ironically, the only athlete to pick up a Berlin ticket was Ethiopian Yakob Jarso (Team Honda). Jarso set the Ethiopian national record of 8:13.47 in the 3000 m steeplechase at last summer's Beijing Olympics where he was 4th. This spring Jarso attempted to move up to the 5000 m and 10000 m but missed the times he needed to make the Ethiopian team at those competitive distances. Resigned to running the steeple again after a year's absence, Jarso had to set an A-standard time to illustrate to the Ethiopian federation that he is ready to go for Berlin. The Abashiri Meet organizers were generous enough to organize a steeplechase heat for Jarso, but when he came to the starting line he found only Sapporo Gakuin University's Masashi Takem...

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2009071100344 translated by Brett Larner At the fourth meet in the Hokuren Distance Challenge series, the July 11 Kushiro meet, Athens Olympian Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei) took the men's 10000 m in 28:27.20. Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo), who will run the marathon at August's World Championships in Berlin, was 9th in 28:38.44. Kenyan Doricah Obare (Team Hitachi) won the women's 3000 m in 9:03.32, with Berlin World Championships 5000 m runner Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) 3rd in 9:11.32. 2009 Hokuren Distance Challenge Kushiro Meet - Top Finishers click here for complete results Men's 10000 m A-heat 1. Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei) - 28:27.20 2. Ryo Yamamoto (Team Sagawa Express) - 28:29.67 3. Takuya Noguchi (Nittai Univ.) - 28:30.06 4. Tsuyoshi Makabe (Team Kanebo) - 28:31.16 5. Michael Gichinji (Aomori Yamada H.S.) - 28:32.40 6. Daisuke Matsufuji (Team Kanebo) - 28:33.12 7. Kazuya Deguchi (Nittai Univ.) - 28:3...