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'Ad Giant Dentsu Raided Over Alleged Tokyo Olympic Bid Rigging'

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/11/6a20a8e6ed95-ad-giant-dentsu-raided-over-bid-rigging-in-tokyo-olympic-test-events.html The Asahi Newspaper is reporting in its JPN-language edition that one of the specific people under investigation whose home was raided was a former JAAF executive who was named as an executive member of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee.

Hachioji Long Distance, Akidor Back at Nittai, and National Corporate Women's Ekiden - Weekend Preview and Streaming

This weekend's main event is Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance meet at western Tokyo's Gion Stadium. The main program features seven heats of men's 10000 m, finely graded as top corporate and collegiate runners tune up for January's New Year Ekiden and Hakone Ekiden. The whole meet will be streamed live above starting at 14:00 local time, with the fastest heat kicking off at 18:20. 29 top Japan-based Kenyans are on the list including Gideon Rono (GMO) and Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu), both sub-27:15 this season. 10 Japanese men are also in the fast heat in hopes of getting as close to the 27:10.00 World Championships qualifying standard as they can, notably featuring national champion Komazawa University power duo Ren Tazawa and Mebuki Suzuki and Hakone Ekiden First Stage CR holder Yamato Yoshii (Chuo Univ.) Tazawa's all-time JPN #2 27:23.44 is still a long way from the standard, but with #4 Kazuki Tamura (Sumitomo Denko), 27:28.92, and #8 Tomoki Ot

Hakone Ekiden Fifth Stage Legends Kamino and Kashiwabara Say Thin Shoes Better for Uphill Running

Pro runner Daichi Kamino (Cell Source) has an opinion on today's generation of thick-soled shoes that is getting attention. On Nov. 19 Kamino ran a 13.5 km uphill race on the Hakone turnpike as part of his training, finishing 7th in 54:18. Now 29, Kamino is famous for winning the Hakone Ekiden's legendary uphill Fifth Stage in 2015, earning him the nickname "God of the Mountain III." He has run professionally since 2018. After the Nov. 19 race Kamino tweeted, "I knew I was going to be running up a steep hill, and for that kind of uphill running thin shoes are better than thick ones." In recent years the long distance running world has been caught up in a whirlwind by the new style of thick shoes containing a carbon plate. Since the technology's introduction the Japanese men's marathon national record has been broken four times, and all ten individual stage records at the Hakone Ekiden have been broken at least once. Everyone knows the thick shoes p

Hakone Ekiden's Kanto Region Select Team Members Allowed to Choose Own Stage

On Nov. 20 Yuji Kawasaki , head coach at Chuo Gakuin University and acting coach of the Kanto Region Student Alliance team for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden, announced that team members would be allowed to choose which stage they will run, with first pick given to the highest-placing finisher at October's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifier half marathon and going down the team's roster in finishing order. "They made this team by running the Yosenkai, so they'll get to pick their stage in the order in which they finished there," he said. "Whatever stage the top finisher wants to run, that's what he'll run." Top placer Hayate Nitta , a 4th-year at Ikuei University and 33rd at the Yosenkai in 1:03:28, chose the First Stage. Ryutsu Keizai University 2nd-year Ryu Hasegawa , 34th in 1:03:32, opted for either the Second or Third Stage. Akio Hashimoto , a 3rd-year at Shibaura Kogyo University and 36th in 1:03:37, picked the famous uphill Fifth Stage. &q

Tango, Kobe, and A Night at the Olympic Stadium - Weekend Racing in Review

The return of the legendary Ageo City Half Marathon was the biggest news this weekend, but high-level races were happening on the road and track across the country. On the roads, this season's top non-Kanto Region program Kwansei Gakuin University toppled four-time winner Ritsumeikan University to take the top spot at the 84th Tango University Ekiden Saturday in Kyoto. The season ender for Kansai Region schools, Tango saw 22 teams racing 84.5 km in 8 stages. Ritsumeikan led early with a stage win by first runner Yuta Nagasawa before being overtaken by Kansai University on the second leg. Kwansei Gakuin hovered in the top 3 until the 12.3 km Fifth Stage, where 4th-year Sota Ueda wrapped his college career by breaking his own stage record with a new mark of 35:18 to put KGU into the lead. That's where they stayed for the rest of the race, winning in 4:16:01. The battle for 2nd was intense over the 11.7 km anchor stage. Kyoto Sangyo University overtook Kansai for 2nd, but

Mulwa Breaks Ageo City Half Marathon Record, Tsubura and Akahoshi NYC-Bound, Wong Cracks Hong Kong NR

The world's deepest half marathon returned after a 3-year absence Sunday in Ageo, Saitama. In its 35th anniversary year the Ageo City Half Marathon debuted a tweaked new World Athletics-certified course that moved its starting point onto the road outside the stadium traditionally used for its start and finish. Boniface Mulwa (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) took off from the massive main pack after a leisurely 14:48 opening 5 km, pursued at first by national record holder Yusuke Ogura and Kensuke Tsubura of this season's Izumo and National University Ekiden course record breaker Komazawa University . But Mulwa's sub-14 split from there to 10 km was too much for them, and he ran the rest of the way complete alone out front. Ageo's first sub-61 clocking looked to be in the works, but after a short stretch of undulations leading to 15 km Mulwa slowed just enough to miss that and let the chase group start to come back into sight of him. With a kick on the last lap of the track

Ageo and Kobe Return, and More - Weekend Preview

The world's deepest half marathon returns Sunday in Ageo, Saitama for the first time since 2019 as Hakone Ekiden-bound universities line up at the Ageo City Half Marathon . Coaches of the teams set to run Hakone use Ageo to narrow down their rosters of contenders for their 16-member Hakone entry list, and the result of that is hundreds of people turning in times that would win most other races. Since 2012 the top two Japanese collegiate finishers have also earned invitations to the United Airlines NYC Half. People like former national record holder Yuta Shitara and the top placer in the marathon at this summer's Oregon World Championships Yusuke Nishiyama have gone from Ageo to NYC and on to bigger things, and with big names like 2019 winner Joseph Razini Lemeteki (Takushoku Univ.), 1:00:40 half marathoner Chikara Yamano (Komazawa Univ.) and former 5000 m H.S. NR holder Kosuke Ishida (Toyo Univ.) on the entry list this time the front end of the race should be fast and com