by Brett Larner
videos by aoshin0507
With heavy rain and wind hitting most of the country, collegiate road 10 km national record holder Kasumi Nishihara (Team Yamada Denki) moved up the ranks with her first national title, winning the women's 10000 m in 32:37.23 to cap the first day of competition at the 2014 Japanese National Track and Field Championships in Fukushima. In a close and tactical race that included most of the favorites from last year's record-setting edition, Nishihara and Yamada Denki teammate Shiho Takechi didn't move clear until the final lap, racing each other to the line with Nishihara claiming the national title by 0.46 seconds. Favorite Ayumi Hagiwara (Team Uniqlo), showing vulnerability in recent races after a very strong winter season, was unable to match the YD pair's closing speed as she took 3rd in 32:41.56 with 4th through 11th places within ten seconds of her.
In the day's only other distance event, 2007 men's 3000 mSC national cha…
videos by aoshin0507
With heavy rain and wind hitting most of the country, collegiate road 10 km national record holder Kasumi Nishihara (Team Yamada Denki) moved up the ranks with her first national title, winning the women's 10000 m in 32:37.23 to cap the first day of competition at the 2014 Japanese National Track and Field Championships in Fukushima. In a close and tactical race that included most of the favorites from last year's record-setting edition, Nishihara and Yamada Denki teammate Shiho Takechi didn't move clear until the final lap, racing each other to the line with Nishihara claiming the national title by 0.46 seconds. Favorite Ayumi Hagiwara (Team Uniqlo), showing vulnerability in recent races after a very strong winter season, was unable to match the YD pair's closing speed as she took 3rd in 32:41.56 with 4th through 11th places within ten seconds of her.
In the day's only other distance event, 2007 men's 3000 mSC national cha…