37-Year-Old Rikkyo University Head Coach Ueno Anchors Nagano to National Men's Ekiden CR

There's a first time for everything. In the last major ekiden of the season, 37-year-old Yuichiro Ueno, head coach of the Rikkyo University team that ran the Hakone Ekiden three weeks ago, anchored the Nagano prefecture team to a second-straight course record win at the 28th National Men's Ekiden in Hiroshima.

Nagano's Soma Nagahara got things off to a solid start, going one-on-one with favorite Sonata Nagashima of Hyogo on the 7.0 km 1st leg, both going under the old stage CR with Nagashima 1st in 19:39 and Nagahara only 2 seconds back. Over the next two stages Nagano dropped to 4th 20 seconds off the lead, but a pair of new CR from 4th and 5th runners and Saku Chosei H.S. teammates Shunpei Yamaguchi and Hiroto Yoshioka put the team 37 seconds ahead. 6th runner Riku Kobayashi extended that to 49 seconds, giving Ueno a margin of error of just over 3 sec/km on the 13.0 km anchor stage.

Ueno first ran the National Men's Ekiden 20 years ago, passing 17 people on the 8.5 km 5th leg with a CR 24:33 at the 2003 race. He broke that record a year later, helping Nagano take the overall win. Since then he has run it another 8 times, anchoring 6 of them and part of the winning team in another 5. Over the first half of the anchor stage this time he added another 4 seconds to the lead, but even though he slowed and started to look back repeatedly he was never at risk of getting caught.

Waving to fans in the home straight in front of Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park, Ueno went 1 second under Nagano's CR, giving them a new record of 2:17:10 for the full 7-stage, 48.0 km course. It was Nagano's 9th win in the 26 times the race has been held, extending its record as the most dominant prefecture in the country. Nagahara, Yamaguchi and Yoshioka played the most important roles in that, but Ueno running well enough to place 12th of 47 on the anchor stage on time was part of the mix too.

Down in 10th after three stages, Saitama ground its way up to 2nd over the last four. Anchor Tomoya Ogikubo was 2nd-fastest on his leg, cutting Ueno's lead in half but just too far back to close it as Saitama finished 2nd in 2:17:35. Tokyo was in a consistent position for the first six stages, inching up from 8th to 6th before anchor Yudai Shimazu took the tasuki. In the last major ekiden of his college career Shimazu ran down three teams for 3rd in 2:18:20, beating Chiba by 1 second and Okayama by 8.

Briefly leading on the 8.5 km 3rd leg thanks to a good run from Keita Sato, the Kyoto team was 6th in 2:18:32, 6 seconds ahead of hosts Hiroshima. Early leader Hyogo fell to 8th in 2:18:45. Saga's Ryosuke Yamasaki, a student at Kanagawa University, was the surprise winner on the anchor stage, running 37:26 to pass ten people and move Saga up from 21st to 11th.

Way back in the back end of the field, 38-year-old Naoki Okamoto turned in the other performance of the day. Running the National Men's Ekiden for the 18th time for Tottori, Okamoto passed ten people on the 8.5 km 3rd leg to bring his career passing record at the race to 137. Okamoto will run October's Olympic marathon trials, meaning it's likely he'll be back next year to take that total one step further.

28th National Men's Ekiden

Hiroshima, 22 Jan. 2023

47 teams, 7 stages, 48.0 km

complete results

Top Individual Stage Results

First Stage (7.0 km, H.S.) - Sonata Nagashima (Hyogo) - 19:39 - CR

Second Stage (3.0 km, J.H.S.) - Haruki Niizuma (Hyogo) - 8:17

Third Stage (8.5 km, open) - Kazuya Shiojiri (Gunma) - 23:30

Fourth Stage (5.0 km, H.S.) - Shunpei Yamaguchi (Nagano) - 14:02 - CR

Fifth Stage (8.5 km, H.S.) - Hiroto Yoshioka (Nagano) - 23:52 - CR

Sixth Stage (3.0 km, J.H.S.) - Yota Mashiko (Fukushima) - 8:36

Seventh Stage (13.0 km, open) - Ryosuke Yamasaki (Saga) - 37:26

Top Team Results

1. Nagano - 2:17:10 - CR

2. Saitama - 2:17:35

3. Tokyo - 2:18:20

4. Chiba - 2:18:21

5. Okayama - 2:18:28

6. Kyoto - 2:18:32

7. Hiroshima - 2:18:38

8. Hyogo - 2:18:45

9. Miyagi - 2:20:07

10. Ibaraki - 2:20:09

11. Saga - 2:20:10

12. Wakayama - 2:20:11

13. Yamaguchi - 2:20:11

14. Osaka - 2:20:30

15. Nagasaki - 2:20:33

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 Tokyo 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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