japan running news

by Brett Larner

Kashiwabara for the win. Click to enlarge photo.

For the third-straight year Toyo University's Ryuji Kashiwabara was the deciding factor on day one of Japan's biggest race, the Hakone Ekiden. Starting the 23.4 km, nearly 900 m climbing Fifth Stage in 3rd place 2:54 behind leader Hideki Inomata of rival Waseda University, Kashiwabara ended up 27 seconds ahead, giving Toyo the win as the team broke the five-stage, 108.0 km Day One course record by over a minute to finish in 5:29:50. Kashiwabara, who was been injured most of the year, missed his own course record by less than a minute but still finished faster than any other runner ever has, winning the stage in 1:17:53. Inomata, in his first and last Hakone, brought Waseda home in 2nd in 5:30:17, likewise clearing the old course record held by Yamanashi Gakuin University for eight years. With seven men holding sub-29 minute 10000 m PBs each Toyo and Waseda were already the best two university teams Japan has ever …

by Brett Larner
photos by Daniel Seite

Suguru Osako, 2010 Ageo City Half Marathon winner.

Waseda University first-year Suguru Osako ran his biggest performance yet Nov. 21 at the Ageo City Half Marathon, winning his half marathon debut in a new junior national record and junior Asian record of 1:01:47. Running in perfect conditions the 19 year-old Osako, who holds a 5000 m PB of 13:47.29 and a 10000 m PB of 28:35.75, battled it out with Kenyan Cosmas Ondiba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) for 16 km ahead of a large chase pack before dropping a hard surge with 5 km to go and pulling away for the win with the largest margin of victory in Ageo history, 57 seconds. Following the race he told the Yomiuri newspaper, "That didn't feel like it was very long at all."

Cosmas Ondiba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) leads Osako and 3000 mSC national record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu (Team Fujitsu) at 3 km.

Osako became only the third man to break 1:02 at Ageo and the fastest-ever Japanese runner to do so…

by Brett Larner

2010 Hakone Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University's Shota Inoue took the top spot at the 2010 Tachikawa Akishima Half Marathon in Tokyo on Mar. 14, winning in 1:03:11 by two seconds over Ryohei Kawakami of 2010 Hakone winner Toyo University. Doubling as the National University Men's Half Marathon Championships, in 2009 Tachikawa Akishima was the deepest half marathon in the world. This year the top seven men broke 1:03:30, with Kawakami's teammate Hiroyuki Uno 8th in 1:03:31. Altogether 106 men broke 1:06.

2010 Tachikawa Akishima Half Marathon - Top Finishers
1. Shota Inoue (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:03:11 - PB
2. Ryohei Kawakami (Toyo Univ.) - 1:03:13
3. Yuta Igarashi (Senshu Univ.) - 1:03:15
4. Ryota Nakamura (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:03:16
5. Akinori Iida (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:03:17 - PB
6. Koji Kobayashi (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:17
7. Hideki Inomata (Waseda Univ.) - 1:03:24
8. Hiroyuki Uno (Toyo Univ.) - 1:03:31

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
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