Hakone Ekiden Qualifier Preview

Saturday is the official qualifying event for the 99th running of the world's greatest road race. Back on its regular course after two years as loop around a runway, the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai half marathon has the 11th through 53rd-ranked men's university teams in the greater Tokyo area racing it out to be in the top 10 and score a place in Hakone in January. All 43 teams field from 10 to 12 runners with their first 10 finishers scoring and teams ranked on their scoring runners' total combined times. It's tense, dramatic, and every second from every runner really does count. Sometimes the difference between 10th and 11th in the team scoring comes down to a fraction of that per runner. NTV will be broadcasting it live starting at 9:25 a.m. local time Saturday.

It doesn't need to be said that proven half marathon ability is the best predictor of half marathon success, but given that teams can qualify runners via 10000 m best that's what organizers KGRR list in the entry lists. Going by those times, it looks like a pretty clear top 8 but almost dead even between 9th and 12th, with the 13th and 14th-place teams right behind them and 15th in range. A team missing the cut can come down to one runner having a bad day, so depth in 11th and 12th also counts in a team's chances.

Last year's winner Meiji University and Tokai University are evenly matched at the top of the rankings, and either could win. Still in a building phase under new coaching, Daito Bunka University looks unexpectedly strong in 3rd and has depth to match the 2 favorites. Yamanashi Gakuin University, Kanagawa University, Nittai University, Rikkyo University and Nihon University all look pretty safe to round out the top 8. If they succeed it will be Rikkyo's first time making Hakone in 55 years and a massive success for young head coach Yuichiro Ueno who has built the program up from zero in just his fourth season.

From there things get rough. Chuo Gakuin University, Waseda University, Josai University and Surugadai University are all evenly matched, CGU a step ahead on depth but Waseda and Josai even there too. It's especially interesting given that new Waseda head coach Katsuhiko Hanada and longtime Josai head coach Seiji Kushibe were Waseda teammates back in their own Hakone days.

Right behind are Kokushikan University, Takushoku University and Nihon Yakka University, and it would be totally possible for one of them to luck out with a combination of a good run and a bad day for one of the higher-ranked schools. If NYU made it it would be its first-ever Hakone, but while that might be a stretch it's definitely on the rise as a program and should factor in coming seasons if it can replace the 5 seniors it has on the roster this year.

In terms individual racing, five men have sub-28 bests for 10000 m, last year's winner Charles Kamau Wanjiku (Musashino Gakuin Univ.), 3rd-placer Noah Kiplimo (Nihon Yakku Univ.), 5th-placer Joseph Razini Lemeteki (Takushoku Univ.), Charles Ndungu (Nihon Univ.) and Ryuto Igawa (Waseda Univ.). Wanjiku, Kiplimo and Lemeteki have all broken 62 minutes for the half, but while they're the favorites for the overall top 3 that kind of time is still in range of good Japanese collegiate men.

One unfortunate absence is Nittai's Tamaki Fujimoto, who broke the meet record in the Kanto Regionals half marathon in May. Fujimoto had an injury shortly after that race and his recovery has taken long enough that he's not on Nittai's roster here. They should still make it without him, and with any luck he'll be back in time for the main event in January.

Japan Announces Complete London Olympics Athletics Team

by Brett Larner Click here for JRN's complete video coverage of the 2012 Japanese Olympic Trials, 27 videos making up nearly three hours of footage. The Japanese Federation and Olympic Committee announced the complete lineup of Japan's team of 48 athletes for this summer's London Olympics track and field events at a press conference on June 11. The team features 11 national record holders and 18 current national champions and is young overall, with a heavy preponderance of first-time Olympians including a World Junior gold medalist, 13 collegiates and one high schooler. The Fujitsu corporate team is overwhelmingly the best-represented, boasting 8 Olympic team members, while Chukyo University tops the collegiate list with 3 athletes on the team. Suzuki, whose Suzuki Hamamatsu AC club team exists outside the corporate league, also has 3 Olympians. No Olympic team selection process is free of controversial decisions, and the omission of women's 10000 m Jr. NR hold

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,

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