Skip to main content

47 Teams to Compete in Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Road Race

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20081004-00000021-sph-spo
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20081003-00000045-yom-spo
http://www.hakone-ekiden.jp/topics/detail.php?newsID=168

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On October 3rd the Kanto Regional University Track and Field Association announced the lineup for the 85th Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai Road Race. 655 runners from 47 universities are entered in the 20 km race which takes place at 9 am on Oct. 18 in and around Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park.

At this year's Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden, 9 teams earned seeded positions for the 2009 Hakone Ekiden. Another 13 teams will qualify for the 2009 Hakone Ekiden at the Yosenkai Road Race, along with the Kanto Regional University Select Team made up of top runners from non-qualifying schools entered in the Yosenkai. Altogether 23 teams will compete in Hakone, 3 more than usual in honor of the Hakone Ekiden's 85th anniversary.

Each university entered in the Yosenkai may field a single team of 10-14 runners. The cumulative time of the top 10 individual finishers from each school will be used to determine the overall finishing order, with the top 10-ranked schools going on to compete in the Hakone Ekiden. An additional 3 schools will be selected based on bonus points acquired at May's Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships. Adding to the drama of this year's Yosenkai is the appearance of 3 top schools, Tokai, Juntendo and Daito Bunka, all of which failed to finish the 2008 Hakone Ekiden.

Appearing for the first time is tiny Sozo Gakuen University of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, coached by Stephen Mayaka (35), who as a Kenyan exchange student led Yamanashi Gakuin University to two wins in the Hakone Ekiden. Sozo Gakuen was founded in April, 2006. The school's men's ekiden team includes only 14 members, 12 of whom will run in the Yosenkai. Coach Mayaka, who trains together with his team, says, "It's a new school. My goal is for us to finish in the top 20. I love the Hakone Ekiden and hope that someday we will qualify."

For a listing of the 47 universities competing in the Yosenkai, click here.
For a listing of the 655 runners competing in the Yosenkai, click here.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Ngetich Breaks CR, Murayama and Sasaki Make U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10k

WR holder Agnes Ngetich  soloed a fast one at the 54th edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10k, leading inside the first mile and pulling away the rest of the race to run a 30:07 CR for the win, the fastest time ever on U.S. soil albeit on a slightly net downhill course. On a warm day that saw over 10,000 women finish  Tsigie Gebreselama  was on her own most of the way too, a distant 2nd in 30:53 and 17 seconds up on past champ Hellen Obiri . Further back, 2026 World University Cross Country bronze medalist Amisa Murayama  and 2025 Morinomiyako Ekiden 3rd leg CR breaker Nazuki Sasaki  from 2025 National University Women's Ekiden runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University  made their U.S. debuts. Murayama was targeting the fastest-ever Japanese time at the Mini, 32:37, but struggled on the hills just before 5 km and late in the race, fading to finish 23rd in 34:08. Sasaki, recovering from a stress reaction in her upper back a few months ago, ran a conservative ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more