A beautiful sunny day was the setting for the 105th edition of the 50km Japan Championships which, punctual as always on the second Sunday of April, took place in the beautiful town of Wajima, on the west coast of Japan facing the Korean Sea. .
For the people in case they didn't know, Wajima is the story of the 50km walk in Japan, and for twenty years (or maybe more) it has hosted the longest running test.
Yesterday the seasonal world ranking of this specialty had a start in Frankfurt (GER) where Jonathan Hilbert (GER) had stopped the clock in 3:43:44, discharging the euphoria of Ronald Weigel, head coach of Germany.
Never again would the strong German athlete think that this performance would last as a "world best season mark" less than 24 hours even considering the time zone between Japan and Europe.
Today the euphoria is that of Fumio Imamura head coach of Japan.
50km men
Only, so to speak, 18 athletes at the start, but there are all the best, from Satoshi Maruo to Hayato Katsuki, from Kai Kobayashi to Tomohiro Noda, from Isamu Fujisawa to Kazuki Takahashi and Hirooki Arai.
Only Masatora Kawano (winner in Takahata on 23.10.2019 in 3:36:45) and the Doha 2019 World Champion, Yusuke Suzuki, are missing.
Very fast start for the leading group which includes, Maruo, Kobayashi, Noda, Fujisawa, Takahashi Arai, and Yuki Ito.
- at 10km
Almost always at the head of the group is Satoshi Maruo.
These are his split times:
- 5km: 22:22
- 10km: 44:26 (22:04)
- at 20km
Tomohiro Noda led the race shortly after 16km, and the four remained in leading pack. Besides Noda there are Maruo, Kobayashi and Fujisawa.
The split times:
- 15km: 1:05:54 (21:28) by Satoshi Maruo
- 20km: 1:27:17 (21:16) by Tomohiro Noda
- at 30km
Satoshi Mauro forces his pace and only Tomohiro Noda and Isamu Fujisawa can resist him (up to 26km).
The two show up together with the 30km in 2:09:15 which represents Japan's national record on distance.
The split times:
- 25km: 1:48:16 (20:59)
- 30km: 2:09:15 (20:59)
Behind them Kai Kobayashi who catched Isamu Fujisawa spaced about twenty seconds apart.
- at 40km
The leading pair is still together.
The split times:
- 35km: 2:30:11 (20:56)
- 40km: 2:51:30 (21:19)
Kai Kobayashi is still in third position (2:54:54), Isamu Fujisawa is fourth in 2:56:58, while in fifth position he moved
Hayato Katsuki (2:57:25)
- last 10km
After the 40th km we witness the physical collapse of Tomohiro Noda who at 45km is still second but 5:21 behind Mauro.
Satoshi Mauro's split times are as follows:
- 45km: 3:14:03 (22:33)
- 50km: 3:38:42 (24:39)
Satoshi Mauro therefore makes him the title of Champion of Japan, but he does not improve his personal best which remains that of 3:37:39 obtained in Takahata on 27.1.2019 behind Masatora Kawano.
The other medals go to:
- silver: to Hayato Katsuki in 3:42:34, who completes a beautiful comeback in the last 10km with these passages (45km: 3:19:39 - 22:14 and 50km: 3:42:34 - 22:55 with a very fast finish)
- bronze: to Kai Kobayashi in 3.43:31 (45km: 3:19:22 - 24:28 and 50km: 3:43:31 - 24:09)
Fourth place to Tomohiro Noda in 3:45:26
Fifth place to Isamu Fujisawa in 3:46:27
Sixth place to Kazuki Takahashi in 3:47:38
Seventh place to Hirooki Arai in 3:50:11
The new updated 50km seasonal world list
20km women
Victory to Kaori Kawazoe (JPN) in 1:33:51
These are her steps:
- 5km: 11:04 pm
- 10km: 46:24 (23:20)
- 15km: 1:10:21 (23:57
- last 5km in 11:30 pm
Second place to Ching Siu Nga (HKG) in 1:33:58
Third place to Nami Kumagai (JPN) in 1: 35:16
We recommend our readers to look at, by clicking the link below, the other results on the other lower distances for the U20 and U18 categories
(Photos thanks to Akihiro Sugimoto - JPN)