Ageo and Kobe Return, and More - Weekend Preview

The world's deepest half marathon returns Sunday in Ageo, Saitama for the first time since 2019 as Hakone Ekiden-bound universities line up at the Ageo City Half Marathon. Coaches of the teams set to run Hakone use Ageo to narrow down their rosters of contenders for their 16-member Hakone entry list, and the result of that is hundreds of people turning in times that would win most other races. Since 2012 the top two Japanese collegiate finishers have also earned invitations to the United Airlines NYC Half. People like former national record holder Yuta Shitara and the top placer in the marathon at this summer's Oregon World Championships Yusuke Nishiyama have gone from Ageo to NYC and on to bigger things, and with big names like 2019 winner Joseph Razini Lemeteki (Takushoku Univ.), 1:00:40 half marathoner Chikara Yamano (Komazawa Univ.) and former 5000 m H.S. NR holder Kosuke Ishida (Toyo Univ.) on the entry list this time the front end of the race should be fast and competitive.

Also coming back Sunday is the Kobe Marathon, with a field of 20,000 one of Japan's biggest. A budget crunch forced it to drop its World Athletics label this year, but even so Kobe still has a small international elite field lined up. The women's race is led by CR holder Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita), fresh off wins in Hokkaido in August and Chiba two weeks ago. She's up against Immaculate Chemutai (Uganda), 1st at the Bali Marathon in August, and debuting 1:07:28 half marathoner Sharon Kemboi (Kenya). Junichi Tsubouchi (Kurosaki Harima) is the top Japanese man at 2:08:35 last year at Lake Biwa, up against 2:07~2:08 Kenyans Elkanah Langat and Clement Langat and 1:00:00 half marathoner Benard Kimani (Comodi Iida).

Hakone is the main event for schools in the Tokyo-area Kanto Region, but for the Osaka-centered Kansai Region Saturday's Tango University Ekiden is the season-ender. 22 teams face off over the 8-stage, 84.5 km course through northwestern Kyoto, with streaming starting at 7:20 a.m. local time. Ritsumeikan University has won Tango the last four years, but this season it looks vulnerable to Kwansei Gakuin University, the top non-Kanto team at October's Izumo Ekiden and at the National University Ekiden earlier this month.

Along with Ageo, Kanto Region runners will also be at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic stadium where the Kanto Region University 10000 m Time Trials meet returns Saturday after demolition and reconstruction-era exile to Kanagawa's beautiful Keio University field. With 10 men's heats and 1 women's heat on the menu anyone who clears 29:20 or 34:20 is set to pick up scholarship money from regional collegiate federation KGRR. Other track time trial meets are also set for Saturday at Heisei Kokusai University in Saitama and in Hiroshima at the Chugoku Corporate Time Trials meet.

photo © 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

text © 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved