japan running news

2010 Hokuren Distance Challenge Fukagawa Meet - Top Finishers click here for complete results Men's 10000 m A-heat 1. Micah Njeru (Kenya) - 27:57.91 2. Alex Mwangi (Kenya) - 27:59.59 3. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) - 28:01.54 - PB Women's 10000 m 1. Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 32:09.01 2. Remi Nakazato (Team Tenmaya) - 32:12.10 3. Aki Odagiri (Team Toyota Jidoshoki) - 32:43.45 Men's 10000 m B-heat 1. Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 28:37.89 2. Hideyuki Anzai (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 28:38.99 3. Kenichi Jiromaru (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 28:42.17 Men's 10000 m C-Heat 1. Teruto Ozaki (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 28:56.82 2. Jeon Eun Hoi (South Korea) - 29:11.41 3. Ryuji Watanabe (Team Asahi Kasei) - 29:15.62 Men's 3000 m 1. Kazuki Hayashi - 8:08.46 2. Tomoya Shirayanagi - 8:08.65 3. Kosuke Murasashi - 8:08.82 Women's 3000 m 1. Betelhem Moges (Ethiopia) - 9:12.74 2. Mai Ito - 9:17.41 3. Sayo Nomura - 9:24.51 (c) 2010 Brett Larner all rights reserved

by Brett Larner On the first genuinely hot day of the year, 10000 m university national record holder Hikari Yoshimoto (Bukkyo Univ.) took the win in the women's 5000 m at the 2010 Kansai Regional University Track and Field Championships on May 21. Yoshimoto led start to finish with a quick 3:03 first kilometer before settling into a more moderate pace. She finished in only 15:44.57, an indication perhaps of the high temperatures, but still had a lead of over 23 seconds on runner-up Risa Takenaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.). Defending champion Kasumi Nishihara (Bukkyo Univ.), who set the meet record of 15:32.89 at last year's Kansai Regionals, was clearly not on form as she was 6th in only 16:44.46. Both Yoshimoto and Nishihara are scheduled to race the 5000 m and 10000 m at next month's National Track and Field Championships. In the men's 10000 m, Hiroki Mitsuoka (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.), the only man in the field with a PB under 29:30, won in a leisurely 30:07.82. 2010 Kansa...

by Brett Larner Picking up the pieces from its women's team's loss to crosstown rivals Bukkyo University at last month's Morinomiyako Ekiden, Ritsumeikan University's men followed through on their strong showing at the Izumo and National University Ekidens with a win at the 71st Biwako University Ekiden on Nov. 21. Western Japan's answer to the mighty Hakone Ekiden, Biwako is the season-ending championship event for university men outside the Kanto region. 19 times raced the eight-stage, 84.3 km event, one of Japan's oldest ekidens. Ritsumeikan, Kyoto Sangyo University and Daiichi Kogyo University were the heavy favorites going in to this year's Biwako, and the three followed expectations. Kyoto Sangyo's Kazuki Hayashi (3rd yr.) took the race out hard, clocking 32:55 for the 11.1 km First Stage. Ritsumeikan and Daiichi Kogyo sat in 4th and 5th behind Nara Sangyo University's Tadaharu Amano (2nd yr.) and Masashi Nakatsu (3rd yr.). Ritsumeikan's ...

by Brett Larner Daniel Gitau in another stage-record win. Click photo for full-sized version. Running in his final Izumo Ekiden on Oct. 12, Kenyan senior Daniel Gitau delivered Nihon University the win for the second year in a row. Last year Gitau started the 10.2 km anchor stage 1:29 behind the lead and won by a margin of 14 seconds. The only sub-28 minute 10000 m runner in the field, this year he confidently predicted before the race that if he was within two minutes of the leader at the start of the anchor stage he would again take first. He was clearly thinking of his Japanese rivals and not of another Kenyan. Nihon University first-year Kenyan Benjamin Gando made his ekiden debut on the first stage, putting Nihon into 3rd. The rest of the Nihon team kept the school toward the front of the field, with only fifth stage runner Kentaro Ikeya slipping back to 5th. Things looked set for an easy ride for Gitau except that Yamanashi Gakuin University's Kota Otani delivered a stage-be...