Lucy Wangui comes home in Chiba XC (© Yohei Kamiyama/Agence SHOT)
Kenyan runners based in Japan, who run for corporate track teams there, finished first and second in the men’s 12Km and women’s 6Km races at the 2008 Chiba International Cross Country - IAAF XC permit - which took place in Showa woods in Chiba, Japan, on Sunday 10 February.
Harun Njoroge, who won the Marugame Half Marathon last week, won the men’s 12Km race in 35:27, while Lucy Wangui, the 2006 Commonwealth Games 10,000m champion, won the women’s 6Km race in 19:50. Njoroge runs for Komori Corporation, while Wangui runs for Suzuki Motors.
Kenyans also finished second in both races, although they were both distant second. Martin Mukare, who runs for Toyota, was a runner-up in the men’s 12Km with 36:04, 37 seconds behind the winner Njoroge. In the women’s race, 19 years old Bilha Kamau finished 21 seconds behind her Suzuki team-mate Wangui, who was ninth in the 2004 Olympics. Kamau, who has the best of 15:31.94, is a new member of Suzuki team.
Because the race doubles as one of the two national qualifying races for the 36th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Edinburgh, Scotland (30 March), the top Japanese finishers are likely to be selected for the team.
Makoto Tobimatrsu, third in the men’s 12Km race, was the first Japanese home in the race, two seconds ahead of Satoru Kitamura, 2006 Collegiate 10000m champion and Yoshitaka Iwamizu, 3000mSC national record holder. Tobimatsu ran in the 2006 World Cross Country Championships, while Kitamura ran in the 2005 junior race and Iwamizu was in the 2007, 2006 and 2004 editions of the World Cross.
Kazuka Wakatsuki finished third in the women’s 6Km. Wakatsuki, whose personal best at 5000m is only 15:58.02, while her 1500m best is 4:22.09, recently set a personal best of 16 minutes flat in the road 5Km but her third place finish was still a surprise. She was followed by Megumi Seike and 20 years old Aimi Horikoshi, who has the 5000m best of 15:55.36. Horikoshi was the top Japanese finisher in the 2007 World Cross Country Championships.
Junior races
Turning our attention to the junior race, Akinobu Murasawa, won the junior 8Km race from Tomohiro Tanigawa and Shun Kurihara, while Ayaka Mori won the women’s junior 5Km ahead of Risa Takenaka and Atsuko Matsumura.
Mori was fifth at 3000m in the 2007 World Youth Championships, while Takenaka is the 2007 National Junior Champion at 5000m. Matsumura ran the junior race in the 2007 World Cross Country Championships. Murasawa was sixth at 5000m in the 2007 national inter-high school championships, while Kurihara ran the junior race in the 2007 World Cross Country Championships
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They also all ran well in the 2007 national high school ekiden championships. Murasawa and Kurihara were fourth and fifth, respectively in the first stage of the boy’s high school ekiden, while Mori was fifth fastest in the second stage, Takenaka was second fastest in the fifth stage in the girl’s high school ekiden.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
Results:
Men’s 12Km
1) Harun Njoroge (KEN) 35:27
2) Martin Mukure (KEN) 36:04
3) Makoto Tobimatsu 36:12
4) Satoru Kitamura 36:14
5) Yoshitaka Iwamizu 36:14
6) Hiroyoshi Umegae 36:16
7) Tsuyoshi Ugachi 36:22
8) Yuki Nakamura 36:24
Women’s 6Km
1) Lucy Wangui (KEN) 19:50
2) Bilha Kamau (KEN) 20:11
3) Kazuka Wakatsuki 20:20
4) Megumi Seike 20:21
5) Aimi Horikoshi 20:24
6) Aya Manome 20:26
7) Mami Ikeda 20:28
8) Yui Nakadai 20:29
Men’s Junior 8Km
1) Akinobu Murasawa 24:17
2) Tomohiro Tanigawa 24:21
3) Shun Kurihara 24:23
4) Kenta Chiba 24:23
5) Hiroyuki Sasaki 24:26
Women’s Junior 5Km
1) Ayaka Mori 16:42
2) Risa Takenaka 16:45
3) Atsuko Matsumura 16:49
4) Asami Kato 16:49
5) Rei Ohara 16:51
