japan running news

Paris Olympics marathon team member Akira Akasaki is the first man from Kumamoto to make an Olympic marathon since the father of Japanese marathoning Shizo Kanakuri 100 years ago. Akasaki finished 2nd in October's Olympic marathon trials to make the Paris team, only the second man from Kumamoto prefecture to ever make an Olympic marathon team after Kanakuri at the 1924 Paris Olympics. On Nov. 6 Akasaki visited the town of Tamana in Kumamoto to pay his respects at the great Kanakuri's grave. At Tamana City Hall he was greeted by applause from city workers. Akasaki's coach at the Kyudenko corporate team, Kazuharu Takai , and his Takushoku University -era coach Masahiro Okada , were also in attendance to celebrate his achievement. Afterward Akasaki visited Kanakuri's grave to pay his respects and inform the legend's spirit that he will be running in the Olympics too. "Kanakuri was the creator of the Hakone Ekiden, and I was lucky to run it four times," sai...

by Brett Larner video highlights courtesy of race broadcaster NHK The men of Aichi returned from the embarrassment of disqualification for an illegal handoff at last year's National Men's Ekiden to join their women and seal a double national title Sunday in Hiroshima.  Like the women's race last weekend , the National Men's Ekiden featured teams from each of Japan's 47 prefectures, each made up of top junior high school, high school, university and pro runners representing their home ground. On-and-off snow meant shifting conditions throughout the seven-stage, 48.0 km race.  With corresponding ups and downs in the pacing, the 7.0 km high schooler First Stage was a bloodbath with three separate falls involving at least four teams.  Undefeated against other Japanese runners in the 2015-16 school year, Hyuga Endo (Fukushima) waited until the final sprint to take the lead, handing off 1 second ahead of more well-known rival Shota Onizuka (Fukuoka).  Gunma pr...

by Brett Larner The year kicked off with perfect, windless conditions at the seven stage, 100.0 km New Year Ekiden , the corporate men's national championships Jan. 1 in Maebashi, Gunma.  Three stage records fell along the way as pre-race favorite Team Nissin Shokuhin  won by over a minute in 4:49:32, returning to the top after a 3rd-place finish last year to take its second national title in three years. Despite the ideal weather the race started very slow, the pack of 37 teams splitting 3:07 for the first km of the 12.3 km First Stage.  Last year's First Stage runner-up Yoshihiro Wakamatsu  (Team Nissin Shokuhin), a transplant from the suspended Team TEPCO , emerged from a sprint finish against Yuya Konishi  (Team Toyota Kyushu) to hand off to past Kenyan national XC champion Gideon Ngatuny  (Team Nissin Shokuhin) in the lead.  Ngatuny appeared stale but maintained the lead against the mostly-African field, which included 2011 World XC silver med...

by Brett Larner In its 60th running the historic Kyushu Isshu Ekiden , a ten-day road relay around Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu featuring men's teams from each of the island's nine prefectures, has changed both name and, to a lesser degree, format.  Now called the Grand Tour Kyushu, the race has been scaled back to eight days and, styled more after a cycling race, has a new and heavier emphasis on the day-to-day stage wins and features corporate sponsorship of the individual day stages. Starting in Nagasaki on Oct. 30 and heading counterclockwise to Fukuoka, the Grand Tour Kyushu remains Japan's longest elite-level event.  Always dominant thanks to the presence of a large concentration of corporate teams, Fukuoka, Miyazaki and Nagasaki prefectures have been the main players through the Tour's first four days.  Defending champion Miyazaki got off on the right foot with a win from rookie Kazuya Deguchi  on the first leg of the race, but the team fell...

by Brett Larner #316 Tatsuro Okazaki leads half marathon Asian jr. area record holder Suguru Osako, #315, in the 1500 m on Apr. 2 at Tokyo's National Stadium. Click here for more pictures courtesy of WESC. Even as road races continue to be cancelled in the wake of last month's earthquake and tsunami, track season got underway this weekend with a handful of competitive meets across the country. Among highlights of the distance events: At the Mar. 30 Kokushikan University Time Trials in Tama, Tokyo, women's 10000 m junior national record holder Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) returned from a long layoff due to injury to run 15:46.58 , the lone woman in a men's 5000 m. 2011 Hakone Ekiden winners Waseda University dominated the distance events at the Tokyo Six University Meet at the National Stadium on Apr. 2. Seniors Yo Yazawa and Yuki Yagi went 1-2 in the 5000 m, clocking 14:03.04 and 14:15.73. Sophomores Kohei Kudo and Noriki Tazawa likewise went 1-2 in the 300...

2010 Time Trial in Nagasaki Kakidomari Field, Nagasaki Civic Sports Park, 11/27/10 click here for complete results Women's 5000 m - Heat Two 1. Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 15:37.44 2. Misaki Kato (Team Kyudenko) - 15:55.60 3. Mayumi Fujita (Team Juhachi Ginko) - 16:07.22 4. Manami Takehisa (2nd yr., Kojokan H.S.) - 16:09.16 5. Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) - 16:12.21 Men's 10000 m 1. Masahiko Takeyasu (Team Chudenko) - 29:09.02 2. Kazuaki Iwami (Team Kyudenko) - 29:10.54 3. Kazuharu Takai (Team Kyudenko) - 29:16.68