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

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin
Post a Comment
Read more

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi
Post a Comment
Read more

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and
Post a Comment
Read more