Ageo and Kobe Return, and More

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.

Goshima and Kasai Win 10000 m National Titles, Maeda Breaks U20 Asian Record

Rino Goshima and Jun Kasai stepped up with PBs to win the 2024 National Championships 10000 m titles Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. In the women's race, Goshima, 4th in last December's 2023 National Championships 10000 m, went out front from the start with Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich pacing and 2023 3rd-placer Haruka Kokai in tow. Things were never on track to hit the 30:40.00 Paris Olympics standard, but except for a brief dip to 3:08 at 7000 m Goshima held steady at 3:05 to 3:06/km even as Kokai and Jepngetich fell off. With blood dripping from her left knee after getting spiked by Jepngetich, Goshima closed in 3:03 to take 5 seconds off her best from December's Nationals and win in 30:53.31, moving up to all-time Japanese #6. Jepngetich also PBd at 31:09.42 without counting in the standings, with Kokai 2nd in 31:10.53 and Kazuna Kanetomo 3rd in a PB 31:59.29. The runner-up last time, Yuka Takashima was last in 33:33.27. The men's race went out in a

Ichiyama 8th at Copenhagen Marathon

Currently the #10-ranked Japanese man in the marathon with the fastest-ever domestic time at the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) made his international debut at Sunday's Copenhagen Marathon , literally an international debut as it was his first time outside the country. Ichiyama hoped to be in contention to break the 2:08:23 CR and go for the win, and with cool and breezy conditions ran easy in the lead group through 30 km. But something ate away at almost everyone as time went by, several people in the lead men's and women's groups saying humidity, and past 30 km Ichiyama fell off. Falling as low as 9th, he rallied after 40 km to finish 8th in 2:13:07. "It was different than in Japanese races," he said. "I'm used to bigger packs and more even pacing, but this was a kind of racing I hadn't done before. There's a lot to think about. I didn't feel like I was sweating a lot, but I got really thirsty and started sk

Golden Games in Nobeoka Top Results

For everyone not running yesterday's 10000 m National Championships , where the Asahi Kasei corporate team dominated the men's race with four out of four men sub-28 including winner Jun Kasai , 27:17.46, the grand dame of Japan's long distance time trial circuit was happening on AK's home ground in Miyazaki at the Golden Games in Nobeoka . Not including kids' races, a total of 74 women and 227 men ran in 14 heats of 5000 m, with a packed-in crowd of fans lining the track beating on metal sponsor boards with batons. It's a pretty awesome meet, and memorable performances included: National champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. standout Caroline Kariba continued to kill it in the second month of her corporate league career, winning the 5000 m A-heat in 15:00.95 in a race where 3 out of the top 4 including her ran PBs. National champion Meijo University seemed flat at this point in the season, with none of its people under 16 minutes and star Nanase Tanimoto leading

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