Weekend Preview - Nagoya and the National University Half

Looking at what's coming up Sunday it kind of almost sort of feels like things are starting to get back toward normalish. Down to the south you've got the Nagoya Women's Marathon stepping up as the first WA Platinum Label Race worldwide to go ahead with a combined elite and mass-participation race since the pandemic started. It's a much smaller field than usual with just 5,000 in the mass-participation race plus elites, but they're actually going to do it. Can you believe it? We're still having a hard time.

The elite race should be good, even with the withdrawal of Tokyo Olympics marathon team member Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) with another injury. You've still got Olympic team alternate Rei Ohara (Tenmaya), last year's Osaka International winner Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) and 25 km national record co-holder Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku), with Matsuda kicking around the possibility of a new NR. That sounds pretty good. There's even a chance of a new world record, with 62-year-old Mariko Yugeta trying to better the 2:52:13 60+ WR she set in Osaka in January.

Detailed entry lists can be had here. Fuji TV will be broadcasting Nagoya live starting at 9:00 a.m. Sunday local time, and we'll be covering the race @JRNLive. Streaming? Something will pop up. We'll tweet links when it does.

Making things seem even more almost normal, that's not even the only big road race happening Sunday. Both the men's and women's National University Half Marathon Championships will be on in Tokyo's western Tachikawa suburb on the same course around an air force base runway used for last fall's Hakone Ekiden qualifier. There won't be any kind of broadcast or streaming, which is a real shame because the men's race looks incredible.

Limited to collegiate runners who've gone sub-1:04 for the half or sub-29:10 for 10000 m on the track, it still has 204 entrants plus a couple dozen more high-potential people who haven't hit the qualifying standards. A lot won't show, but big names on the entry list include last year's #1 collegiate half marathoner Shoya Kawase (Kogakkan Univ.), 1:01:18, in his final race before joining the Honda corporate team, sub-28 runners Charles Kamau Wanjiku (Mushashino Univ.), James Bunuka (Surugadai Univ.), Ren Tazawa (Komazawa Univ.), Yuhi Nakaya (Waseda Univ.) and Naoki Ota (Waseda Univ.), and a whole lot of others you probably saw at Hakone.

Usually held in Matsue on the west coast, the women's race is a lot smaller with just 89 entrants total but still has good quality. 2019 World University Games half marathon gold medalist Yuka Suzuki (Daito Bunka Univ.) and bronze medalist Yuki Tagawa (Matsuyama Univ.) lead the way, with competition from National University Women's Ekiden champion Meijo University teammates Narumi Kobayashi and Yuka Masubuchi. Both the women's and men's races count toward national team selection for the 2021 Chengdu World University Games team, assuming the Games go ahead. Whether or not they do, at least these races are.

Wanjiru Breaks Own MR, Fuwa and Ishida Return - Kanto Regionals Day 1 Highlights

Japan's best college meet kicked off Thursday at Tokyo's National Stadium at the 103rd Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships . Looking like she was doing a controlled tempo run, 2nd-yr Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) lapped the entire field to win the women's 10000 m in a meet record 32:02.87, almost 15 seconds under the record she last year in her debut. 3rd-yr Aoi Takahashi (Josai Univ.) was 2nd in 33:29.22 and 2nd-yr Nana Nagashima (Josai Kokusai Univ.) 3rd in a PB 33:30.28, but the other main news alongside Wanjiru's new record was the return of collegiate 10000 m record holder Seira Fuwa (Takushoku Univ.) in her first 10000 m in 19 months. Fuwa hung at the back of the chase pack for the first half, made a move to lead it in the second half, and ultimately faded to 9th in 33:40.20. Every comeback has to start somewhere. The D1 men's 10000 m had a tight group up front with the top 6 all finishing within 6 seconds and under 28:10. 3rd-yr Jam

Two-Time Olympic Marathon Medalist Erick Wainaina Referred to Prosectors on Suspicion of Assault

According to investigators, two-time Olympic marathon medalist Erick Wainaina has had his case referred to prosecutors after allegedly injuring a railway employee by striking him in the face at a station in Setagaya, Tokyo. Wainaina, 50, was the bronze medalist in the marathon at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and won silver in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Wainaina is suspected of assaulting a woman in her late teens and a male Tokyu Denentoshi Line employee by hitting them in the face during an altercation at Komazawa University Station in March this year, resulting in minor injuries to the man's face. According to investigators, the incident began on the train between Wainaina and the woman, and after getting off at Komazawa University Station he hit her in the face when she asked him to go to the station office with her to report it. When the male railway employee responded to the situation Wainaina reportedly hit him too. In response to questioning Wainaina is said to have answered,

Police Arrest 20-Year-Old Man Charged With Assaulting Female Runner at Popular Tokyo Running Spot

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a female runner along the banks of the Tama River in Ota Ward, Tokyo. "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go for a walk and move my body a bit," the man told police. Local resident Hirai Muroyama , 20, of no known occupation, was arrested on charges of sexual assault. He is accused of acts including grabbing the breasts of a woman in her 20s at around 10 p.m. on May 31 along the banks of the Tama River. According to police, the woman was taking a break in her run when Muroyama approached her silently from behind and grabbed her breasts before running away. Under police interrogation Muroyama told investigators, "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go out for a walk and move my body. I'd had a few drinks and was feeling pretty hype. She was totally my type." source article: https://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newsey

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