Skip to main content

Charles Ndirangu 13:15.44 National High School Record at Oita Challenge 5000 m

by Brett Larner

Sera High School’s scouts are on top of their game.First Sera’s Bitan Karoki (Team S&B) came a hairsbreadth from cracking Samuel Wanjiru's legendary National High School Ekiden stage record his senior year before going on to impress this year at the Cardinal Invitational, Kenyan Championships and the Africa Games. Then as a junior last year current Sera senior Charles Ndirangu likewise missed Wanjiru’s record by the slimmest of margins. Now Ndirangu has come through.

Seemingly unaware of the international declaration of the end of track season last month, Ndirangu rocketed a 13:15.44 at the Oct. 22 Oita Prefecture Challenge Games track meet to break the Japanese national high school 5000 m record. Officially called a new Japanese high school international student record, Ndirangu’s time is a full 16 seconds better than the best ever run by a Japanese high school student.  In comparison, past Kenyan national XC champion Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) ran 13:32.25 to win the Tokai Univ. Time Trials 5000 m A-heat the same day. Another solid shot at Wanjiru’s stage record at December’s Nationals looks to be in the cards for Ndirangu.

Sera first-year John Gasaya was also under the 14 minute mark in Oita, taking 2nd in 13:56.34. The top Japanese finisher, Kaoru Hirosue, was 3rd in 14:16.25, narrowly escaping being lapped. Sera senior Susan Wylim likewise dominated the women’s 3000 m, winning by 25 seconds in 8:59.07 over Nihon Bunri Prep first-year Madoka Uesugi who was 2nd in 9:24.63.

2011 Oita Prefecture Challenge Games
Oita Bank Dome, Oita, 10/22/11
click here for complete results

Men’s 5000 m Heat 13
1. Charles Ndirangu (Kenya/Sera H.S.) – 13:15.44
2. John Gasaya (Kenya/Sera H.S.) – 13:56.34
3. Kaoru Hirosue (Kobayashi H.S.) – 14:16.25
4. Yusuke Egashira (Shiroishi H.S.) - 14:17.74
5. Shuhei Kondo (Oita Tomei H.S.) - 14:18.42

Women's 3000 m Heat 5
1. Susan Wylim (Kenya/Sera H.S.) - 8:59.07
2. Madoka Uesugi (Nihon Bunri Prep. H.S.) - 9:24.63
3. Mikako Kodama Kodama (Oita Nishi H.S.) - 9:29.44
4. Karen Yakushi (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 9:30.02
5. Fumika Shinohana (Sera H.S.) - 9:31.42

Women's 5000 m Heat 1
1. Ayano Kubo (Kobayashi H.S.) - 16:07.17
2. Mai Nakamura (Oita Nishi H.S.) - 16:07.70
3. Misuzu Nakahara (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 16:12.41
4. Nozomi Nishiyama (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 16:13.10
5. Miki Yasutomi (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 16:23.51

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

TokyoRacer said…
13:15! That's amazing....

Most-Read This Week

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

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

Sprinter Shoji Tomihisa Retires From Athletics at 105

A retirement ceremony for local masters track and field legend Shoji Tomihisa , 105, was held May 13 at his usual training ground at Miyoshi Sports Park Field in Miyoshi, Hiroshima. Tomihisa began competing in athletics at age 97, setting a Japanese national record 16.98 for 60 m in the men's 100~104 age group at the 2017 Chugoku Masters Track and Field meet. Last year Tomihisa was the oldest person in Hiroshima selected to run as a torchbearer in the Tokyo Olympics torch relay. Due to the coronavirus pandemic the relay on public roads was canceled, and while he did take part in related ceremonies his run was ultimately canceled. Tomihisa recently took up the shot put, but in light of his fading physical strength he made the decision to retire from competition. Around 30 members of the Shoji Tomihisa Booster Club attended the retirement ceremony. After receiving a bouquet of flowers from them Tomihisa in turn gave them a colored paper placard on which he had written the characters