japan running news

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Japan's Ken Nakayama (Chuo Univ.) and Genki Kaneko (Josai Univ.) will run the Mar. 17 United Airlines NYC Half after taking the top two Japanese collegiate spots at November's Ageo City Half Marathon in school records of 1:01:32 and 1:02:16.

photo © 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

This year I was again asked to give an impromptu speech at the welcoming banquet the night before the Ageo City Half Marathon, where Ken Nakayama (Chuo Univ.) and Genki Kaneko (Josai Univ.) earned invitations to the 2019 United Airlines NYC Half by taking the top two Japanese collegiate spots in 1:01:32 for 2nd overall and 1:02:16 for 6th. This is an English transcription of what I remember saying.

Hello, I’m Brett Larner, appearing here on behalf of the New York Road Runners. So, Japanese men are doing pretty well in the marathon this year, don’t you think? Two national records, the first gold medal at the Asian Games in 32 years, and look at the results from the World Marathon Majors, the series made up of the world’s six biggest marathons. Of the four races in which top Japanese men ran, there was a 2nd place at the Tokyo Marathon, a win at the Boston Marathon, a 4th place at the Berlin Marathon in a race that saw a new world record, and a 3rd place at the Chicago Marathon. Look tw…

Every year it seems like the question is how much further can Ageo go? The answer still seems to be more. More further.

The Ageo City Half Marathon is the world's greatest half marathon, the place where Hakone Ekiden-bound universities line up most of their rosters to help coaches whittle down the contenders for the final sixteen-man Hakone lineup. Perfect conditions at this year's race meant something special.

Four runners from Chuo Gakuin University led by Takumi Yokokawa took it out hard, splitting 5:47 at 2 km, 1:01:00 pace, well ahead of last year's CR with the entire field in tow. A field that included national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda), Boston Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), Hakone uphill hero Daichi Kamino (New Balance), 2017 London World Championships marathoner David Nilsson (Sweden), Kenyans Michael Githae (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), Vincent Laimoi (Kokushikan Univ.) and Paul Gitonga (Kokushikan Univ.) and Ethiopian Workneh Derese (…

The final day of the 97th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships kicked off as usual with the D1 and D1 men's half marathon. Logistics of the meet's new location this year at Sagamihara Gion Stadium in Kanagawa meant a complicated course, with the two divisions starting 9 minutes apart with four laps of the track, twelve laps of a 1.58 km road loop, and a track finish. In both divisions the runners-up from Thursday's 10000 m taking the top spot. In D2 Simon Kariuki (Nihon Yakka Univ.) ran the fastest time of the day, 1:03:09, for his second-straight win. In D1 it was Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) in 1:03:49, his third-straight D1 Kanto Half title.



The men's 5000 m went to both divisions' 10000 m winners, with D1 champ Patrick Mathenge Wambui (Nihon Univ.) taking the top spot in his race in 13:45.30 to score his third-straight Kanto double and D2 winner Josphat Ledama Kesaisa (Obirin) leading his in 13:49.86. 3rd in the D1 10000 m, Kazuya S…