by Brett Larner click here for complete results In his first serious race since winning the 2011 New Year Ekiden national championships First Stage, 2010's top Japanese 10000 m and half-marathon man Tomoya Onishi (Team Asahi Kasei) made a successful and surprising comeback after a year and a half of injury troubles as he won the July 4 Hokuren Distance Challenge Kitami Meet men's 5000 m in 13:46.06, just six seconds off his best. Onishi ran up front much of the way with Korea ace Seungho Park and equally injury-hampered former Komazawa University standout Sota Hoshi (Team Fujitsu), taking the lead for good after Park dropped out. Onishi's performance signaled hope for improvement on the promising 27:50.72 and 1:01:31 marks he recorded in 2010 and a not-too-distant marathon debut. His twin brother, former Hakone Ekiden champion Toyo University captain Kazuki Onishi (Team Kanebo), ran the same heat but was far off form as he finished 19t...
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