Course Records at Chunichi Hamanako Ekiden

by Brett Larner

In what was really and truly probably the last noteworthy ekiden of the season, course records fell Feb. 17 in two of the three divisions at the 37th Chunichi Hamanako Isshu Ekiden at Lake Hamana in Shizuoka. Despite the absence of aces Martin Mathathi and Yusei Nakao, the Suzuki Hamamatsu AC team had no trouble winning the 53.5 km men's race, clocking 2:42:49 to runner-up Teikyo University's 2:44:15. Suzuki men took three of the five stages, with 2010-11 steeplechase national champion Tsuyoshi Takeda setting a course record of 29:12 for the 9.6 km Fourth Stage.

In the six-stage, 42.0 km high school boys' race, 2012 National High School Ekiden runner-up Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. ran 2:07:38 to set a new overall course record thanks to four of its runners scoring stage bests. Fourth man Yuki Hirota, running the same 9.6 km course as Takeda in the men's race, set a new high school division record of 28:44, almost 30 seconds better than Takeda's mark. Toyokawa Kogyo H.S., in the midst of a corporal punishment scandal, managed 2nd overall in 2:09:58.

The Suzuki Hamamatsu AC women took four of five stages in the 20.6 km women's race to set a new overall course record of 1:07:02. Behind them, 2012 National High School Ekiden champion Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. and runner-up Toyokawa H.S. went 2-3 in 1:08:02 and 1:09:46. Ritsumeikan Uji's Nanami Aoki was the only runner to beat one of the Suzuki women, taking the 4.6 km Second Stage in 15:37.

37th Chunichi Hamanako Isshu Ekiden
Lake Hamana, Shizuoka, 2/17/13

Men
10 teams, 5 stages, 53.5 km
click here for complete results

1. Suzuki Hamamatsu AC - 2:42:49
2. Teikyo Univ. A - 2:44:15
3. Teikyo Univ. C - 2:45:07
4. Yamanashi Gakuin Univ. A - 2:48:05
5. Meiji Univ. - 2:48:26

First Stage - 11.5 km - Kazuma Tashiro (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ. A) - 35:18
Second Stage - 8.4 km - Yasuyuki Nakamura (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 26:09
Third Stage - 13.0 km - Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 38:46
Fourth Stage - 9.6 km - Tsuyoshi Takeda (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 29:12 - CR
Fifth Stage - 11.0 km - Tsukasa Koyama (Teikyo Univ. A) - 33:00

High School Boys
37 teams, 6 stages, 42.0 km
click here for complete results

1. Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. - 2:07:38 - CR
2. Toyokawa Kogyo H.S. - 2:09:58
3. Aichi H.S. A - 2:10:34
4. Sera H.S. - 2:11:10
5. Tokyo Nogyo Prep #3 H.S. - 2:12:09

First Stage - 8.4 km - Kazuki Takeshita (Tokyo Nogyo Prep #3 H.S.) - 26:39

Second Stage - 3.9 km - Keisuke Nakatani (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 11:09

Third Stage - 9.1 km - Seiji Makiura (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 27:20

Fourth Stage - 9.6 km - Yuki Hirota (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 28:44 - CR

Fifth Stage - 4.0 km - Hiroshi Matsuura (Aichi H.S. A) - 12:13

Sixth Stage - 7.0 km - Tatsuya Taniike (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 21:26

Women

28 teams, 5 stages, 20.6 km

click here for complete results

1. Suzuki Hamamatsu AC - 1:07:02 - CR

2. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 1:08:02

3. Toyokawa H.S. - 1:09:46

4. Bukkyo Univ. A - 1:09:57

5. Tokoha Kikugawa H.S. - 1:10:13

First Stage - 5.0 km - Miki Sakakibara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 15:44

Second Stage - 8.4 km - Nanami Aoki (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 15:37

Third Stage - 4.0 km - Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 13:00

Fourth Stage - 3.0 km - Yuki Sakata (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 9:58

Fifth Stage - 4.0 km - Misaki Sango (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 12:34

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges. Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

Long Time Coming - Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera's Road to the 2022 United Airlines NYC Half

Back in pre-pandemic days Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera were still in college, Akasaki at Takushoku University and Onodera at Teikyo University . At the 2019 Ageo City Half Marathon they frontran most of the race together, dead set on finishing in the top two Japanese collegiate spots to win invitations to the 2020 United Airlines NYC Half. For Akasaki it had already been a year and a half wait. Inspired by Kenta Murayama 's 1:00:57 5th place in finish in New York in 2017 and Kei Katanishi 's 7th-place in 2018, Akasaki went for it his junior year in his debut at the 2018 Ageo Half . "Coming up to 10 km I was in the lead pack and feeling good, so I knew I had a shot at going to New York and got pretty excited," he said. But right after the 10 km turnaround point he tripped and fell, and by the time he was back up the lead group was out of range. He finished 20th in 1:03:07, over a minute and a half behind top Japanese university man Ken Nakayama . "I was f...

japan running news

Search This Blog