Yacob Jarso and Mary Wanjohi Take Kanaguri Memorial 5000 m Wins (updated)

by Brett Larner

Running in heavy rain, Ethiopian 3000 m SC national record holder Yacob Jarso (Team Honda) overcame Kenyan rivals Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) and Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) on the last lap in a close three-way finish while university student Mary Wangari Wanjohi (Ritsumeikan AP Univ.) ran a solo race ahead of the field of professional women in the main events of the 2009 Kanaguri Memorial Track and Field Meet, the men's and women's elite 5000 m. The top Japanese competitors in each race, Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu) and Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) were regrettably absent, leaving the top Japanese positions to Athens Olympian Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei), 4th in the men's race, and #1-ranked university star Kazue Kojima (Ritsumeikan Univ.), 3rd in the women's race.

As expected, the men's 5000 m was a battle between Jarso, Ngatuny and Ndamibiri, who together ran under the 8 km road world record during January's New Year Ekiden 2nd stage. In that race Ndambiri was the fastest, with Ngatuny and Jarso clocking identical times. This time the Ethiopian emerged victorious, outrunning Ngatuny and Ndambiri over the last lap after a relatively slow and strategic race to finish in 13:28.21, well off both his PB and Ndambiri's meet record of 13:19.27.

Ryuji Ono led the distant second pack, narrowly beating out Kenyan Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem), who was out of shape for his pro debut after a car accident in Kenya in February kept him out of training, and Ono's teammate Kenichi Shirashi (Team Asahi Kasei), who was the lone runner in the top ten of either race to mark a PB performance. Four more runners were closely bunched just behind Shiraishi. After the race Ono commented, "It was a good experience. I thought I could stay with the foreigners and outkick them in the end, but I couldn't quite pull it off. My next goal is to get the A-standard for the World Championships."*

In Yuriko Kobayashi's absence, Mary Wangari Wanjohi had an easy win, running home in a comfortable 15:41.74. Further back, Ethiopian Betelhem Moges (Team Denso) clipped university star Kazue Kojima by a hairsbreadth for 2nd. Kojima had the consolation of outkicking major professional names Madoka Ogi (Team Juhachi Ginko), Megumi Seike (Team Sysmex) and Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz) for 3rd, with two more runners close behind.

Complete results for the 2009 Kanaguri Memorial Track and Field Meet are available here.

2009 Kanaguri Memorial Track and Field Meet - Top Finishers
Elite Men's 5000 m
1. Yacob Jarso (Team Honda) - 13:28.21
2. Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:30.44
3. Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) - 13:33.38
4. Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:47.33
5. Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem) - 13:47.83
6. Kenichi Shiraishi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:47.95 - PB
7. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:48.38
8. Kazuharu Takai (Team Kyudenko) - 13:49.32
9. Tomoya Adachi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:50.30
10. Harun Njoroge (Team Komori Corp.) - 13:50.97

Elite Women's 5000 m
1. Mary Wangari Wanjohi (Ritsumeikan AP Univ.) - 15:41.74
2. Betelhem Moges (Team Denso) - 15:52.54
3. Kazue Kojima (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 15:52.79
4. Madoka Ogi (Team Juhachi Ginko) - 15:53.63
5. Megumi Seike (Team Sysmex) - 15:55.28
6. Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz) - 15:55.55
7. Nazumi Tomonaga (Team Juhachi Ginko) - 15:56.65
8. Risa Takenaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 15:57.55
9. Yukino Ninomiya (Team Hokuren) - 16:04.36
10. Yoko Nishimi (Team Juhachi Ginko) - 16:10.96

(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

*Ono's quote translated from this article.

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