I don't particularly care about sprinting but I can't stop watching this video, so here it is again. Ladies and gentlemen, freshman anchor Shota Iizuka singlehandedly gives Chuo University a 1-second margin of victory over Waseda University and the Japanese national university record of 38.54 in the men's 4 x 100 m relay at the Kanto Regional University T&F Championships in Tokyo's National Stadium on May 22, 2010.
The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
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No official splits either, but I time him at 9.25 from the time the baton touches his hand to when he crosses the finish line. Anyone with better knowledge of sprint relay split timing feel free to offer a better estimate.
One of the Japanese comments compared the video to the Beijing Olympic final. The comment says Iizuka ran 8.13 from the line on the corner, while Asahara, the anchor on Japan's bronze medal team in Beijing, ran 8.24 and Powell ran 7.80. The guy who filmed this also says that it was like watching a bunch of junior high school kids racing a pro.
He might have got a little bit taller though.
I was really impressed by him the last year when he won 100m for the National Athletic Meet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zpM2fNmHXo
He clocked his PB of 10.38 in the pretty cold and raining condition, which I thought was great.
But that run is much more impressive!
It is a shame he will avoid the Japanese national the next month in favor of the World Junior Championships.
BTW thanx for all the videos you are uploading!
Thanks for all that info. I'm sure a lot of people are grateful.
184 cm! Wow, that is big for a Japanese guy. He is taller than me.
There you go.