Kagoshima Jitsugyo Takes Surprise National High School Boys Ekiden Title

Kagoshima Jitsugyo Takes Surprise National High School Boys Ekiden Title - Video Highlights (updated)

by Brett Larner

Click photo for video highlights.

Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S. unexpectedly ran down defending champion Sera H.S. on the final two stages to win a dramatic 2010 National High School Boys Ekiden, its first-ever national title in the event's 61-year history.

Kazuto Nishiike (Suma Gakuen H.S.), who finished 0.02 seconds out of the medals in the boys' 3000 m at last summer's Youth Olympics, took the race out hard with a 29:35 for the 10 km First Stage. Kagoshima Jitsugyo's Takashi Ichida was just 3 seconds back, with another 5 seconds separating Ichida from pursuers Sendai Ikuei H.S. and Kyushu Gakuin H.S. Suma Gakuen's Second Stage runner Yudai Yamamoto lengthened the team's lead over Sendai Ikuei and Kyushu Gakuin, while Kagoshima Jitsugyo fell to 7th.

The 8.1075 km Third Stage, a showcase for the top Kenyan high schoolers in Japan, saw a shakeup to the runner as defending champions Sera H.S.' new ace Charles Ndirangu delivered a big performance. With a 36 second deficit at the start of the stage Ndirangu moved up from 10th to the lead, running dead even with Samuel Wanjiru's stage record and ultimately finishing just 1 second off Wanjiru's seemingly unbreakable mark of 22:40. Michael Getange (Aomori Yamada H.S.) likewise had a strong run to move into 2nd ahead of Wanjiru's alma mater Sendai Ikuei, Kagoshima Jitsugyo, Kyushu Gakuin and 2008 national champion Saku Chosei H.S.

Sendai Ikuei made the strategic decision to put its current Kenyan Bernard Waweru on Fourth Stage, usually the sign of a weaker athlete, but Waweru was successful in moving Sendai Ikuei into 2nd with a stage best run. Sera held a lead of 18 seconds over Sendai Ikuei at stage's end, with Kyushu Gakuin moving up to finish the stage dead even with cross-island rivals Kagoshima Jitsugyo. Kagoshima Jitsugyo pulled away on the Fifth Stage, overtaking Aomori Yamada for 3rd but failing to make dent in Sera's 28 second lead. But Kagoshima was saving its best for last.

Kagoshima Jitsugyo's Hiroshi Ichida, the twin brother of its First Stage runner Takashi, took the stage best to put his team in range. Ichida outran Sera's Takuya Fujikawa by 14 seconds, cutting the lead in half. Kagoshima anchor Koki Takada quickly ran down stunningly named Sera anchor Naruhei Daikuya. Entering the track together for the final 500 m, Takada waited until the very last 250 m to kick away from Daikuya, winning by a margin of 6 seconds and just sneaking under 2:04. Kyushu Gakuin overtook Sendai Ikuei for 3rd, with Suma Gakuen moving back ahead of Aomori Yamada thanks to a Fifth Stage best by Takuma Sano. 2008 winner Saku Chosei, a virtual factory for top high school talent in the last 7 or 8 years, was only 7th.

In a post-race interview with TV broadcaster NHK, Kagoshima Jitsugyo head coach Sadanori Kamioka commented, "When we finished the First Stage in 2nd I was very confident because I knew we had our strongest runners on Sixth and Seventh. With 1 km to go I knew we had it." Anchor Takada agreed, saying, "When I caught up to the leader at 4 km I decided just to take it easy the rest of the way and outkick him on the track. I had planned to outkick him with 150 m to go but could see he was struggling so I went a little farther out." Kamioka thanked the people of Kagoshima prefecture for the school's first national title, saying, "This victory was won by everyone in Kagoshima."

2010 National High School Boys Ekiden
Top Team Results - 42.195 km
click here for complete results
1. Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S. - 2:03:59
2. Sera H.S. - 2:04:05
3. Kyushu Gakuin H.S. - 2:04:24
4. Sendai Ikuei H.S. - 2:04:47
5. Suma Gakuen H.S. - 2:05:26
6. Aomori Yamada H.S. - 2:05:33
7. Saku Chosei H.S. - 2:05:50

Stage Best Performances
click here for complete results
click stage headers for video highlights
First Stage (10.0 km) - Kazuto Nishiike (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 29:35
Second Stage (3.0 km) - Yudai Yamamoto (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 8:18
Third Stage (8.1075 km) - Charles Ndirangu (Sera H.S.) - 22:41
Fourth Stage (8.0875 km) - Bernard Waweru (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 23:27
Fifth Stage (3.0 km) - Takuma Sano (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 8:43
Sixth Stage (5.0 km) - Hiroshi Ichida (Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S.) - 14:40
Seventh Stage (5.0 km) - Koki Takada (Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S.) - 14:31

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

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...

Restaurant Owner Selected as Olympic Torchbearer Dies in Fire After Becoming Despondent Over Impact of Coronavirus Crisis (updated)

On the evening of Apr. 30, the 54-year-old male owner of a restaurant in Tokyo's Nerima ward specializing in tonkatsu deep fried pork cutlets died from full-body burns in a fire at the restaurant. The man had been one of the people chosen as a torchbearer for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics torch relay. With the coronavirus crisis causing both the postponement of the Olympics and a loss of business at the restaurant, the man had recently started talking pessimistically about the future to those around him. With evidence of the man's body having been doused in tonkatsu cooking oil, metropolitan police from the Hikarigaoka Police Station are carefully examining the cause of the fire. At around 10:00 p.m. on the 30th, the fire broke out in the tonkatsu restaurant on the first floor of a three-story building. A neighborhood resident who noticed smoke called the fire department. Firefighters found the floor and part of a wall burning, with the man lying on the floor in the customer seat...

Kawauchi Wins Inaugural Kawauchi Half Marathon

http://www.minyu-net.com/sports/running/FM20160501-070419.php translated by Brett Larner 川内優輝ロード pic.twitter.com/rEJk7CQPFV — みとっぽ (黒) (@mitoppo_tmyk) April 30, 2016 Yuki Kawauchi Road in Kawauchi, Fukushima Held to inspire former residents to return to the area after the nearby TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident five years ago, the village of Kawauchi held the first " Kawauchi no Sato Kaeru Half Marathon - From Reconstruction to Creation " on April 30. The course started and finished at the village heliport. 1188 runners from across the country gathered to celebrate the village's revival as they ran through its springtime streets. The event's organizing committee was made up of local government and board of education members with support from the Fukushima Minyu Newspaper and other sponsors. The race's purpose was to transmit the vitality and charm of the reconstructing Kawauchi village to the rest of the nation in hopes of helpin...

japan running news

Search This Blog