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Showing posts with the label Hayashi Morozumi

Head Coach Morozumi Praises Graduating Seniors Who Led Tokai University to First-Ever Hakone Win

Team captain Haruki Minatoya, Second Stage runner Shun Yuzawa and other 4th--years who helped lead Tokai University to its first-ever win at the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden graduated from Tokai at a ceremony at the university's Shonan Campus in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa on Mar. 25. "My greatest memory of these four years was, of course, winning the Hakone Ekiden this year," said Minatoya as Yuzawa smiled widely in agreement.
Tokai beat four-time defending champion Aoyama Gakuin University by a margin of 3:41to take Japan's biggest win for the first time. The pair capped their four years pursuing Hakone dreams with the grandest of finales, but for both Minatoya and Yuzawa there were tough times along the way. "After I was named captain I couldn't run at all," said Minatoya. "It was really hard, and I was very sorry for what it meant for everyone else." At November's National University Ekiden Championships Minatoya started the Seventh Stage in the le…
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Hakone Ekiden Champion Tokai University Team Members Visit Hospitalized Teammate Who Suffered Stroke

On Jan. 29 three members of 2019 Hakone Ekiden champion team Tokai University, new captain Ryoji Tatezawa (3rd yr.), Shota Onizuka (3rd yr.) and Kiseki Shiozawa (2nd yr.), visited Shunya Takeuchi, 19, in a Chiba hospital.

Takeuchi had planned to enter Tokai as a first-year last April, but in October, 2017 the day before the Chiba Prefecture High School Ekiden he suffered a stroke that has left him hospitalized and struggling to recover ever since. Tatezawa brought Takeuchi, who would have been completing his first year right now if not for the stroke, a Tokai University uniform and the team's tasuki, the sash each member wore in the ekiden.

Takeuchi is currently undergoing rehabilitation and cannot speak full words yet, but he smiled widely when presented with the uniform and tasuki. Tatezawa, who last year broke the indoor mile national record and won his second-straight 1500 m national title, told him, "This year I'm going to break the 1500 m national record for you, T…
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Aoyama Gakuin First Year Takayuki Iida Leads Weekend Half Marathon Action

The National Women's Ekiden was the weekend's biggest race, but across the country four half marathons saw decently competitive men's action.

At Tochigi's Takanezawa Genki Up Half Marathon, as in the last few years Hakone Ekiden runner-up Aoyama Gakuin University ran its B-team of Hakone non-starters, this year with company from the team that beat it, Tokai University. AGU swept the top ten, first-year Takayuki Iida taking the top spot in 1:03:10 with teammate Shuya Iwami also getting under 64 minutes. Tokai seemed to treat the day more as a workout, but head coach Hayashi Morozumi, 52, took the chance to get in on the action too, running the 10 km division in 43:04.

In Tokyo, the High Tech Half Marathon celebrated its 20th running with the edition of a marathon division. Independent Hideyuki Ikegami (Aminosaurus) won the men's half in 1:05:08. Club runner Eri Suzuki (Noshiro Yamamoto T&F Assoc.) ran the fastest women's time of the weekend, 1:19:34, to win…
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2019 Hakone Ekiden Entry Lists and Rankings

Entry lists are out for the world's biggest running event, the Jan. 2-3 HakoneEkiden university men's championships. Aoyama Gakuin University has built a near monopoly on Hakone, winning the last four years and looking this year to follow Chuo University and Nittai University as the third team in Hakone's 95 years of history to win it five years straight. But with its weakest lineup since 2015, the year AGU first rose to Hakone dominance, that won't be easy.

Using the chart above from JRN's January, 2016 article "The Shape of Things to Come" which predicted the breakthrough we've seen this year in Japanese men's marathoning based on the last 20 years of Hakone results, we've ranked the 23 teams in the 2019 Hakone Ekiden based on the combined scores of the 10 best runners on each team's 16-man entry roster.
The Win 1. Tokai University - 70 pts.
2. Komazawa University - 69 pts.
3. Teikyo University - 62 pts.
4. Aoyama Gakuin University - 61 …
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Aiming to Make 100th Hakone Ekiden, Rikkyo University Names Track Star Yuichiro Ueno as Head Coach

On Nov. 13 Rikkyo University, which will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2024, announced its new "Rikkyo Hakone Ekiden 2024" project, naming DeNA corporate team runner Yuichiro Ueno, 33, as head coach of its ekiden program.

A graduate of Nagano's Saku Chosei H.S. and Hakone powerhouse Chuo University, Ueno has been well-known for his unique personality as well as his achievements both at those schools and at the SB and DeNA teams. He will leave DeNA at the end of November and take over at Rikkyo effective Dec. 1 to lead its ekiden team to qualify for the 100th Hakone Ekiden in 2024. He plans to remain active as an athlete, training directly alongside the athletes he will supervise.

If successful it will be Rikkyo's first time qualifying for the Hakone Ekiden since 1968. For a school more than half a century removed from the Hakone frontlines Rikkyo's new development project is an ambitious one, and the appointment of the idiosyncratic Ueno as head coach adds …
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Tatezawa Runs Fastest-Ever Japanese Mile at Boston U Last Chance Meet

Another day, another national record. Two weeks after Ryoji Tatezawa broke the longstanding Japanese indoor mile national record with a 4:01.56 at the Husky Classic meet in the U.S., he and three other members of 2017 Izumo Ekiden winner Tokai University raced the indoor mile at the Boston University Last Chance Meet. Chopping four seconds off his Husky Classic time, Tatezawa became the fastest-ever Japanese miler indoor or outdoor as he took 5th in 3:57:43. Teammate Hayato Seki also cleared 4 minutes for the first time in 3:59.03 for 8th, with Ryohei Sakaguchi and Shota Onizuka running 4:05.51 and 4:06.93.

https://t.co/a8YynxHiEp — Ian Anderson (@IAndersonWrites) February 25, 2018
Tokai head coach Hayashi Morozumi was a pioneer of cross-country-based training in the Japanese ekiden circuit while coach at Nagano's Saku Chosei H.S., athletes he cultivated there including 5000 m national record holder and 2:07:19 marathoner Suguru Osako (NOP) and current Nissin Shokuin teammates Yuk…
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Tokai University Head Coach Morozumi Calls for Hakone Ekiden Finish Line to Move to Tokyo Dome

In comments on Jan. 22, Tokai University head coach Hayashi Morozumi, 51, revealed that he considering making a proposal for the finish line of the Hakone Ekiden to be moved from its current location in front of the main offices of sponsor Yomiuri Newspaper Group in Otemachi Ward to Tokyo Dome in Bunkyo Ward. "Having the finish at Tokyo Dome would allow more people to watch the race and welcome each school's runner home, increasing the excitement level," explained Morozumi. "With the number of fans packed into the current finish area there are too many issues with traffic and other problems."

Given that it is around 2 km from the Yomiuri Newspaper Group's head offices to Tokyo Dome, under "The Morozumi Proposal" it would be necessary to increase the distance of the anchor stage. Additionally, because the level of Tokyo Dome's fiberglass roof is adjusted in response to changes in air pressure there are times when entrance and exit doors cannot…
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Tokai University Outruns Defending Champ Aoyama Gakuin to Win First Izumo Ekiden Title in Ten Years

Kanagawa's Tokai University outran two-time defending champion Aoyama Gakuin University to win the 2017 Izumo Ekiden, its first win at one of the Big Three university men's ekidens under head coach Hayashi Morozumi and Tokai's first Izumo title since 2007.

Formerly head coach at Nagano's Saku Chosei H.S. where he produced the fastest-ever all-Japanese high school team and standout Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) on a cross-country based training regimen, since taking over at Tokai in 2011 Morozumi has set about systematically developing the Tokai program into one with the greatest depth in Japanese university running. On paper AGU had a slight advantage over Tokai over the first half of Izumo's six stages, but with Tokai's second half runners, including its top two men Shota Onizuka and Hayato Seki, ranked at the top of their stages AGU needed a decent lead by halfway to stand a chance.

From the start it wasn't to be. In hot and sunny conditions Tokai&#…
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Izumo Ekiden Preview

It's almost time for the weekend's biggest race, as university men's ekiden season kicks off at Monday's Izumo Ekiden. 21 university teams face off over 45.1 km split into six stages, the short stage lengths rewarding the teams with the best speed credentials. For the last few years that's been Aoyama Gakuin University, a program that rose from nearly zero to juggernaut status under talented head coach Susumu Hara, but this year AGU's time in the spotlight may be up.

Over the six years since taking over as head coach in 2011 Hayashi Morozumi has turned Tokai University into a program that can challenge AGU's depth and quality. With Morozumi having spent track season focusing his team on 1500 m speed Tokai now has fifteen men with 5000 m bests under 14 minutes, and ten of them make up Tokai's roster for Izumo. Led by second-year Hayato Seki with bests of 13:35.81 and 28:23.37, all of Tokai's best six made the cut, giving it six-man averages over 500…
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Tokai Set to Overtake Aoyama Gakuin in 100th Year of the Ekiden - University Ekiden Season Preview

As Japan celebrates 100 years of the ekiden, its greatest racing series, the Big Three University Men's Ekidens, kicks off with the Oct. 9 Izumo Ekiden.

The university men's ekiden circuit entered its modern era of mass popularity and incredible depth of quality with Toyo University's 2012 Hakone Ekiden win, when innovative young coach Toshiyuki Sakai led Toyo to become the first team in history to average under 3:00 / km for the entire ten-stage, 217 km-plus Hakone course including two stages with nearly 900 m elevation difference each. The Toyo team, led by uphill specialist Ryuji Kashiwabara and wonder twins Keita and Yuta Shitara, became superstars, Kashiwabara a national icon and Yuta the future half marathon national record holder.

In the midst of Toyo's reign, underdogs Aoyama Gakuin University arose from nothing to replace them at the top. Susumu Hara, another innovative and businesslike young coach, brought AGU up systematically from an absence of over 30 yea…
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On Osako in Boston

by Brett Larner

U.S.-based for the last few years as part of the Nike Oregon Project, Suguru Osako makes his marathon debut at tomorrow's Boston Marathon.  It's had the Japanese media and other critics clucking that the choice of Boston "goes against the conventional wisdom of Japanese long distance" and that Boston's one-way, net downhill course means that he's more likely to run a fast time but that it "won't count."  The idea that Boston is a waste of time for Japanese runners because it's not record-elligible is a relatively recent one.  There's a pretty good argument to be made that the era of Japan's greatest strength as a marathon power lined up reasonably well with when the best Japanese marathoners were regularly in Boston and winning or placing, that once the powers that be decided Boston was off-limits to the best due to the risk of "wasting" a good one on a record-inelligible course Japanese marathoners stopped …
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Tokai University Recruits Top Three Finishers on 2016 National High School Ekiden First Stage

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20170131-00000258-sph-spo

translated by Brett Larner

After a recruiting coup with its 2016-17 incoming class that saw eight first-years run sub-14 for 5000 m, sub-29 for 10000 m and/or sub-1:03 for the half marathon, Tokai University will see another class of "super rookies" in 2017-18.  The top three finishers on the First Stage at last December's National University High School Ekiden, its most competitive and prestigious stage, have all enrolled at Tokai, stage winner Ryota Natori (Saku Chosei H.S.), runner-up Kiseki Shiozawa (Iga Hakuho H.S.) and 3rd-placer Takeshi Nishida (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.).

Looking at the previous year's First Stage, including both second and third-years at the time 7 of the top 10 will now be running at Tokai.  Every spring Tokai head coach Hayashi Morozumi holds a training camp to which he invites 200 runners from the ten best running high schools from across the country.  Explaining the secret of his succe…
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Maximizing Hakone Ekiden Performance With Low Pressure Chamber Training and Adaptive Data

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/hakone-ekiden/2017/feature/20161222-OYT8T50092.html

translated by Brett Larner

Tokai University's Shonan campus features a "low pressure chamber."  With 20 cm-thick walls it is like a room on a submarine.  In preparation for the Hakone Ekiden, twice a week the school's athletes work out in the chamber on running machines and other equipment.  According to Tamotsu Terao, professor of exercise physiology at Tokai University's Sports Medical Science Laboratory, the interior of the 24 square meter, 3 meter-tall room can replicate altitude conditions ranging from 0 to 4000 m, and by adjusting temperature and humidity it is also simulate a variety of weather conditions.  "By setting it to 3000 m you create a situation that replicates running at Mt. Fuji's eighth stage," said Prof. Terao.  It is said that training in a low pressure, low oxygen environment increases the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, which improves the enduran…
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Tokai University Head Coach Morozumi Goes Heavy on First-Years in Hakone Ekiden Lineup

translated and edited by Brett Larner
source articles at bottom


Powered by its formidable lineup of talented first-years, Tokai University is shooting for top three in Japan's biggest race.  On Dec. 16 the Tokai University men's ekiden team held a public practice session in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa ahead of the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden.  Of its sixteen-man Hakone entry roster, eight are first-years.  Four of those have run 13 minutes for 5000 m, four have run 28 minutes for 10000 m, and two have run 62 minutes for the half marathon.  Head coach Hayashi Morozumi, 50, told reporters, "I think you'll probably see a lot of the first-years on the final start list too.  It's jump or die.  If we take an interesting approach, we can make it a good race.  We have to take it to the champs Aoyama Gakuin University and not be afraid of failing.  Our goal is 3rd place.  I hope that we can go into it with every team member bringing the best of his abilities."

Morozumi plans a stro…
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Aoyama Gakuin On the Way to the Triple Crown - National University Men's Ekiden Championships Preview

by Brett Larner



University men's ekiden season gets into full swing at Sunday's National University Men's Ekiden Championships, the second of the Big Three University Ekidens.  Last year Aoyama Gakuin University looked set to become just the fourth team in history to win the Izumo-Nationals-Hakone ekiden triple crown, but Toyo University put on a performance that head coach Toshiyuki Sakai tearfully described as "180%" to stop Aoyama Gakuin dead and score its first-ever national title. This year, with a solid win at the season-opening Izumo Ekiden behind it Aoyama Gakuin looks ready to do what it couldn't last year.

The top 16-ranked teams at Sunday's 48th National University Men's Ekiden. Click to enlarge.


Aoyama Gakuin is far and away the favorite, leading the field in average 5000 m, 10000 m and half marathon bests among its top eight men.  With the Nationals course featuring eight stages between 9.5 km and 19.7 km and averaging 13.35 km 10000 m and …
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Ledama Leads Arms Race in Setagaya

by Brett Larner
video by 7716chuo

2016 World U20 Championships men's 5000 m bronze medalist Wesley Ledama of Kenya continued his undefeated streak since arriving in Japan this summer to run for the Subaru corporate team, outrunning 2016 Ichinoseki Half Marathon winner Alexander Mutiso (Team ND Software) to win Saturday's Setagaya Time Trials 5000 m A-heat in 13:27.00, the second-best time of his career.  But with university men's ekiden season about to break at next weekend's Izumo Ekiden, the main story was to be found in the arms race brewing in the rest of the field.



In 2015 Aoyama Gakuin University broke the course records at two of the Big Three University Ekidens, Izumo and the legendary Hakone Ekiden.  This year it graduated four key seniors, all Hakone stage winners, but even so it arrived in Setagaya with eleven men with 5000 m bests under 14 minutes.  In Setagaya three AGU runners ran major PBs, two going under 14 for the first time.  Second-year Yuji Onoda to…
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Kawamoto and Sawano Clear Olympic Standards

by Brett Larner

With just a few days to go until the July 11 cutoff for Rio de Janiero Olympics qualification athletes eligible to chase standards under the JAAF's abstruse selection policy have spent the last week doing just that.  Two weeks ago at the National Championships national record holder Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) won the men's 800 m but came up short of the 1:46.00 Rio standard, running 1:46.22 in rainy conditions.  At Saturday's Nittai University Track and Field Meet in Yokohama he made it, just, winning the 800 m A-heat in 1:45.97.

The next day at the Nihon University Track and Field Meet in Tokyo's western suburbs men's pole vault national record holder Daichi Sawano (Team Fujitsu) cleared the 5.70 m Rio standard with a vault of 5.75 m on his third attempt, adding that credential to his National Championships win.  Little is for certain with the JAAF, but as 2016 national champions, Kawamoto and Sawano hitting the Rio standards within the win…
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Nishiyama and Minatoya to Make U.S. Debut at United Airlines NYC Half

by Brett Larner
coach Atsushi Fujita, Yusuke Nishiyama and Haruki Minatoya in New York
For the fifth year in a row the NYRR have invited the top two Japanese university finishers at November's Ageo City Half Marathon to make their U.S. debuts at the United Airlines NYC Half.  Last year in AgeoKenya Sonota and Yusuke Nishiyama from four-time National University Ekiden champion Komazawa University went 1-2 in 1:02:48 and 1:02:52 to seal up their invites to New York, just outkicking Japan's best first-year Haruki Minatoya of Tokai University.  Three weeks ago Sonota sustained an injury that forced him to withdraw.  19-year-old Minatoya, already entered for the National University Half Marathon, was ready to take over.

In New York with support from JRN and Komazawa coach Atsushi Fujita, the former Japanese marathon national record holder at 2:06:51, Nishiyama was a star runner at Iga Hakuho H.S. with a win on the First Stage at the 2012 National High School Ekiden Championships his…
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University Ekiden Season Rolls On With Saturday's Hakone Ekiden Qualifier

by Brett Larner

Following Monday's Izumo Ekiden, university ekiden season rolls on this Saturday with the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifier 20 km road race in Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park.  Each year the top ten schools at the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden, the ten-stage, twenty-team university road relay that is Japan's largest sporting and TV event, win seeded places at the following year's race.  The remaining ten teams and other hopeful universities in the Kanto Region line up the third Saturday in October to try to earn the privilege of a starting place at the prestigious Hakone.  Any readers in the Tokyo area should join the thousands of fans who go out to Showa Kinen Park on the 19th to soak in the atmosphere of a race packed with university bands, cheerleader squads and booster clubs.  For those elsewhere, for the first time this year's Yosenkai will be broadcast live instead of on tape delay.  Try Keyhole TV to catch Nihon TV's broadcast starting at 9:30 a.m. Japa…
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