Skip to main content

3 Races, 3 Wins in 24 Hours for Ongori at National Corporate Track and Field Championships

by Brett Larner

After winning the women's 10000 m on Friday night and then her heat of the 5000 m on Saturday morning, Kenyan ace Philes Ongori (Team Hokuren) returned Saturday night to take the women's 5000 m final at the 2009 National Jitsugyodan Track and Field Championships in Okayama. Ongori's time of 15:28.11 was a far cry from her sub-15 PB but strong enough to hold off countrywoman Doricah Obare (Team Hitachi) and all Japanese competitors. Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Giken) was the surprise top in the latter category, outkicking World Championships team members Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) and Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) for 3rd in a PB of 15:30.29.

After likewise winning the 10000 m and his heat of the men's 5000 m, Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) made a play for his own threepeat but came up short in his fatigue. Archrival Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) was waiting in the wings to take Ngatuny down, winning in 13:11.46 with Jonathan Ndiku (Team Hitachi Cable) and 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Team Suzuki) close behind in 2nd and 3rd. Left behind in the final kick, Ngatuny could only manage 4th in 13:18.63. 5000 m national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) was the top Japanese runner at 6th in 13:47.20, nearly 35 seconds off his record but a step back in the right direction from the injuries which have plagued him this year. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin), the top Japanese man in both the 10000 m and his heat of the 5000 m, was a casuality of the difficult three-race schedule, pulling out partway through the 5000 m final.

2009 National Jitsugyodan Track and Field Championships - Top Results
click event headers for complete results

Women's 5000 m - Final
1. Philes Ongori (Team Hokuren) - 15:28.11
2. Doricah Obare (Team Hitachi) - 15:30.18
3. Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Giken) - 15:30.29 - PB
4. Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) - 15:31.52
5. Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) - 15:32.45
6. Christine Muyanga (Team Panasonic) - 15:33.10
7. Misaki Katsumata (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 15:34.13
8. Yuka Kakimi (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 15:37.31
9. Hiromi Koga (Team Denso) - 15:40.55
10. Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 15:43.18

Men's 5000 m - Final
1. Josephat Ndamibiri (Team Komori Corp.) - 13:11.46
2. Jonathan Ndiku (Team Hitachi Cable) - 13:11.99
3. Martin Mathathi (Team Suzuki) - 13:12.63
4. Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:18.63
5. Martin Mukule (Team Toyota) - 13:34.00
6. Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 13:47.20
7. Tomoya Onishi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:48.72 - PB
8. Kazuharu Takai (Team Kyudenko) - 13:51.99
9. Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo) - 13:52.07
10. Jacob Wanjuki (Team Aichi Seiko) - 13:53.72

(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Weekend Racing Roundup

  China saw a new men's national record of 2:06:57 from  Jie He  at the Wuxi Marathon Sunday, but in Japan it was a relatively quiet weekend with mostly cold and rainy amateur-level marathons across the country. At the Tokushima Marathon , club runner Yuhi Yamashita  won the men's race by almost 4 1/2 minutes in 2:17:02, the fastest Japanese men's time of the weekend, but oddly took 22 seconds to get across the starting line. The women's race saw a close finish between the top two, with Shiho Iwane  winning in 2:49:33 over Ayaka Furukawa , 2nd in 2:49:46.  At the 41st edition of the Sakura Marathon in Chiba, Yukie Matsumura  (Comodi Iida) ran the fastest Japanese women's time of the weekend, 2:42:45, to take the win. Club runner Yuki Kuroda  won the men's race in 2:20:08.  Chika Yokota  won the Saga Sakura Marathon women's race in 2:49:33.  Yuki Yamada  won the men's race in 2:21:47 after taking the lead in the final 2 km.  Naoki Inoue  won the 16th r

Japan's Olympic Marathon Team Meets the Press

With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao

Takeuchi Wins Niigata Half in Boston Tune-Up

Running in cold, windy and rainy conditions, Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) warmed up for April's Boston Marathon with a win at Wednesday's Niigata Half Marathon . Takeuchi sat behind Nittai University duo Susumu Yamazaki and Ryuga Ishikawa in the early stages, then made a series of pushes to pick up the pace. Each time he tucked in behind whoever went to the front, while behind them others dropped off. Before 15 km only Yamazaki and Riki Koike of Soka University were left, and when Takeuchi went to the front the last time after 15 km only Koike followed. By 16 he was gone too, leaving Takeuchi to solo it in to the win in 1:03:13 with a 17-second negative split. "This was my last fitness check before the Boston Marathon next month, and my time was right on-target," he said post-race. "Everything went as planned. I'm looking forward to racing some of the world's best in Boston, and my goal there is to place in the single digits." Just back from tr