Tanaka Wins 10000 m Debut, Gando Adds National Title to His Collection - National University Championships Day One

by Brett Larner

On the first day of the 2010 National University Track and Field Championships Kenyan Benjamin Gando (Nihon Univ.) added a national 10000 m title to his 10000 m win at May's Kanto Regional University Championships. With the fastest PB in the field by over 10 seconds there was little doubt that Gando would go on to exactly the type of runaway victory he scored, winning in 28:26.72 by a margin of nearly 20 seconds. It was left to teammates Akinobu Murasawa and Tsubasa Hayakawa of Tokai University and 2009 Ageo City Half Marathon winner Shota Hiraga (Waseda Univ.) to battle it out in a chase pack. Despite being one of three athletes over the course of the day to stumble at the same point on the track, possibly due to an obstruction which meet officials were examining immediately after the men's 10000 m, Murasawa took the runner-up spot with Hayakawa 3rd. Tanzanian Jackson Kwarai (Nara Sangyo Univ.) shook things up by overtaking Hiraga for 4th, the only runner from outside the Tokyo-centric Kanto region to make the top 15.

In the women's 10000 m the withdrawal of top-ranked Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) meant that it should have been an easy win for 2008 national university 10000 m champion Michi Numata (Ritsumeikan Univ.), the only woman in the field with a PB under 33 minutes. The race went out roughly on pace for a 33:20 and Numata was content to sit in the front pack, taking the lead at times but never trying to press her competitors and apparently planning to save it for the last kilometer. The lead pack eventually whittled down to Numata, third-ranked Maria Yano (Matsuyama Univ.) and, in their 10000 m debuts, 15:40 5000 m runner Shiho Takechi (Bukkyo Univ.) and Numata's teammate Hanae Tanaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.). Tanaka stole the show with a stunning surge from 300 m out to win in 33:17.52 by a margin of nearly 5 seconds. Yano, coached by Keiichi Murai, the coach and husband of marathon great Reiko Tosa, likewise had a solid kick for 2nd. Takechi and Numata battled to the line with Takechi prevailing over the former champion for 3rd. A victim of her own underestimation of the competition, Numata had to be content with 4th as another teammate, Machiko Iwakawa (Ritsumeikan Univ.) rounded out the top 5.

2010 Japanese National University T&F Championships - Top Results

click here for complete results

Men's 10000 m

1. Benjamin Gando (Kenya/Nihon Univ.) - 28:26.72

2. Akinobu Murasawa (Tokai Univ.) - 28:45.16

3. Tsubasa Hayakawa (Tokai Univ.) - 28:57.72

4. Jackson Kwarai (Tanzania/Nara Sangyo Univ.) - 28:59.96 - PB

5. Shota Hiraga (Waseda Univ.) - 29:00.15

6. Hirotaka Tamura (Nihon Univ.) - 29:22.83

7. Dai Nakahara (Josai Univ.) - 29:44.96

8. Masaki Ito (Kokushikan Univ.) - 29:47.63

9. Takuya Noguchi (Nittai Univ.) - 29:55.47

10. Takuya Tanino (Nittai Univ.) - 30:06.24

Women's 10000 m

1. Hanae Tanaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 33:17.52 - debut

2. Maria Yano (Matsuyama Univ.) - 33:22.08

3. Shiho Takechi (Bukkyo Univ.) - 33:22.36 - debut

4. Michi Numata (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 33:22.40

5. Machiko Iwakawa (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 33:28.23

6. Natsumi Katsutani (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 33:30.95

7. Nanami Matsuura (Kagoshima Sports Univ.) - 33:50.44

8. Rika Kawashima (Bukkyo Univ.) - 33:56.60

9. Emi Mori (Bukkyo Univ.) - 34:08.92

10. Mizuki Utsumi (Matsuyama Univ.) - 34:22.33

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that Sis

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el

japan running news

Search This Blog