Skip to main content

Hakone Ekiden Releases 2009 Entry Lists

http://www.47news.jp/CN/200812/CN2008121001000909.html
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20081210-00000147-jij-spo

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Dec. 10 the Hakone Ekiden released the 16-member entry lists for each of the 23 schools running next year's 85th edition to be held Jan. 2-3. The organizers released the information in junction with a panel discussion in Ebisu, Tokyo, featuring top teams' coaches.

Defending champion Komazawa Univ. is fielding a lineup featuring all of its big guns, including captain Soji Ikeda and aces Takuya Fukatsu and Tsuyoshi Ugachi. Komazawa head coach Hiroaki Oyagi confidently proclaimed, "We are in excellent condition. We'll be looking at the top 3 but running to win."

2008 runner-up Waseda Univ. has included Beijing 5000 m and 10000 m Olympian Kensuke Takezawa on its roster, but in view of his ongoing injury problems, most recently damage to his right Achilles tendon, it won't be known until race day whether he will start the race. The other Japanese 27-minute 10000 m runner in the field, Tokai Univ. ace Yuki Sato, is also suffering from leg injuries, throwing doubt on his chances of scoring a fourth new stage record.

2008 3rd-place finisher Chuo Gakuin University will send 2008 World Half Marathon national team member Masato Kihara. 2008 World Half Marathon Kenyan national team member Mekubo Mogusu of Yamanashi Gakuin Univ. will have a final showdown with rival Daniel Gitau of Nihon Univ. following the pair's duel in November's All-Nihon University Ekiden Championship.

Toyo Univ. will be allowed to participate despite a recent sexual assault scandal involving a 2nd-year steeplechase runner on the school's track team. Toyo head coach Shinji Kawashima resigned last week over the incident, leaving assistant coach Nao Sato to take over the team's leadership. Sato commented, "We're grateful that we were still allowed to participate. Everything was going really well when this incident happened, so perhaps it was punishment for our arrogance. We hope that the public will forgive us." Toyo's squad will feature its two aces, fourth-year Tomoya Onishi and first-year Ryuji Kashiwabara.

The 10-member starting lists for the 2009 Hakone Ekiden will be released Dec. 29.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

CR Holder Teruki Shimada Returns to Launceston Half - Preview and Streaming

Last year's McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania, Australia shaped out into a great Australia vs. Japan dual meet , with Jessica Stenson outrunning Yumi Yoshikawa to take the women's title in a 1:09:51 CR, and Teikyo University school record holder Teruki Shimada executing a tactically brilliant race to drop Isaac Heyne , then-NR holder Brett Robinson , and Teikyo teammate Jinya Ozaki for the win in 1:01:12, just a second off the Australian all-comers record. Marathon NR holder Andy Buchanan took that record down to 1:01:08 at the Gold Coast Half a month later, but its chances of surviving this weekend aren't looking good. Shimada leads last year's top 4 back to Launceston this year, and there's a lot of tough new competition. 2025 National Corporate Half winner Tsubasa Ichiyama , Australia's Haftu Strintzos , new Teikyo record holder Yuta Asakawa and American Ethan Shuley have all run faster that Buchanan's rec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Murayama and Sasaki Making U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10 km

Every year since 2012 that there's been a United Airlines NYC Half , JRN has partnered with the NYRR and November's Ageo City Half Marathon to bring two top-tier collegiate Japanese men to the NYC Half for what's usually been their international debuts. For years we've wanted to extend that program to include top collegiate women, but that has always faced 2 problems. For one, while the half marathon distance is the main focus for Japanese collegiate men due to the stage lengths at the Hakone Ekiden, few collegiate women run it. Those that do run the National University Women's Half Marathon in Matsue, held the same day as the NYC Half. This year, though, we're finally making it happen in a slightly different way. Amisa Murayama and Nazuki Sasaki of 2025 Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden national collegiate championship runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University are joining the field for the NYRR's Mastercard New York Mini 10 km on June 6. After running an 18:14 CR ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Some Reflections on the Ekiden

by Brett Larner This ekiden season I've had a few thoughts kicking around, and watching this week's Hakone Ekiden a few of them became clearer.  These are still in progress, but at the moment this is what I'm thinking in terms of running as a spectator sport and about the quality of Japanese men's distance running right now. Quality: Japanese men's running is coming up very, very quickly.  I was in the lead car at November's Ageo City Half Marathon , where 18 men, 17 of them university runners, broke 63 minutes.  As it was going on we all thought it was a slow race because there were so many people running that pace all the way, no separation at all in the mass of the pack. See the JRN header photo above, taken just past halfway.  That's pretty unusual in Japan, especially at the university level; generally you'll get a handful of guys who run an aggressive pace and a mass running dead on a safe pace, 3:00/km in a half marathon, for example. Th...
18 comments
Read more