japan running news

by Brett Larner

Ekiden season got off to an early start with the 66th running of Akita's Towada Hachimantai Ekiden on Aug. 7.  The Honda corporate team, less Moscow World Championships marathoner Masakazu Fujiwara and other A-list members, outran rival Yakult for the win after a slow start.  The Yakult A team led for the first three of the day's five stages thanks in part to a superb stage record of 36:12 on the 13.4 km Second Stage by new Kenyan ace Bernard Kimani, while Honda fell as low as 4th.  On the 16.4 km Fourth Stage new Honda recruit Wataru Ueno, a graduate of Komazawa University and Sendai Ikuei H.S., had a strong corporate ekiden debut as he made up the 30-second gap to leader Yutaro Fukushi of Yakult before opening a lead of nearly two minutes.

With Fukushi having fallen to 3rd behind Komori Corporation, Yakult anchor Soji Ikeda, another Komazawa alum, did his best to run down Honda's Hayato Saito on the tough uphill Fifth Stage, but although he overtook Komo…

photos by Kazuyuki Sugimatsu

On Oct. 8 the U.S. team at the 24th Izumo Ekiden had its best-ever showing, tying last year's best-ever placing at 8th but running over a minute faster for the six-stage, 44.5 km course.  Fifth Stage runner Brendan Gregg was one of five men on his leg to break the standing course record, second on his stage on time and missing the win by only two seconds behind Ryu Takaku of defending champion Toyo University.  Historically an Ivy League alumni team, its makeup has shifted over the last two years to become more of an overall U.S. post-collegiate team lineup.  Taking in Tokyo for a few days post-race, the team's members gave JRN their impressions of the Izumo Ekiden, Japanese collegiate runners, the system under which they train and compete and how it compares to the NCAA, and more.


Elliott Heath (Stanford Univ., First Stage, 8.0 km – 4th, 23:33)
Running in a Japanese ekiden opened my eyes to the Japanese running culture in a way that I didn't rea…

by Brett Larner



Toyo University's Yuta Shitara has had a busy last month.  After a 1:01:48 PB at the March 18 New York City Half Marathon he beat marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) over ten miles on April 1 and set a meet record for 3000 m on April 8 before travelling to Lodz, Poland for the 18th World University Cross-Country Championships on April 15.  Leading the first part of the race and working together with Tokai University's Daichi Motomura to control the pace, Shitara ended up going head-to-head against Algerian Abdelmajed Touil for the win but falling four seconds short as Touil outkicked him for the win, 29:11 to 29:15.  Leading at halfway, Motomura hung on to 3rd in 29:22.  Komazawa University's Kazuhiro Kuga placed 7th and Daito Bunka University's Hiroshi Ichida, like Shitara an identical twin, 24th to give the Japanese men the team gold medal alongside Shitara and Motomura's individual silver and bronze.  The Japanese women fell short of individ…

by Brett Larner



Earlier this week JRN reported that based on Waseda University posting that one of its athletes had finished 211th at the Mar. 4 National University Men's Half-Marathon Championships in 1:06:11 it appeared that over 200 athletes may have broken 66 minutes for the first time ever.  With complete results available it is now evident that only 193 athletes, led by Teikyo University sophomore Toshikatsu Ebina in 1:02:23, broke 1:06.  This surpasses the previous world record of 188 set at the 2005 Ageo City Half Marathon but falls short of clearing the 200 mark.

JRN regrets the error.

2012 National University Men's Half-Marathon Championships
Tachikawa, Tokyo, 3/4/12
click here for complete results

1. Toshikatsu Ebina (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:23 - PB
2. Yudai Yamakawa (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:36 - PB
3. Takumi Honda (Nittai Univ.) - 1:02:37 - PB
4. Duncan Muthee (Kenya/Takushoku Univ.) - 1:02:40 - PB
5. Kenta Kitazawa (Takushoku Univ.) - 1:02:40 - PB
6. Kenta Chiba (Komazawa …

by Brett Larner

It's you, baby. Shinobu Kubota brings Komazawa University home to its 9th national title in 17 years. Click photo for video highlights of the race.

After a few shaky seasons Komazawa University head coach Hiroaki Oyagi reconfirmed his position as Japan's most successful university coach with his ninth National University Men's Ekiden Championships title on Nov. 6, the 17th major ekiden win in his 17 years at Komazawa.  Responding to Izumo Ekiden winner Toyo University and defending champion Waseda University's unprecedented 10 sub-29 men lineups last season, Oyagi has built a squad this year which features 11 men with sub-14 5000 m PBs, sub-29 10000 m PBs, or both, five of them with 10000 m times under 28:33.  Toyo did its best to match Komazawa's challenge and almost pulled it off but could not quite cope with Komazawa's superior speed on the shorter of the ekiden's stages.  Despite Oyagi throwing a curveball by only running six of his big…

by Brett Larner

With unseasonably cool temperatures ahead of an approaching typhoon the Hokuren Distance Challenge Fukagawa Meet on June 25 saw a raft of significant PB performances. Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) led three Japan-resident Kenyans to the top of the men's 10000 m A-heat with a win in 27:43.82, but the trio had company from 5000 m national champion Kazuya Watanabe (Team Shikoku Denryoku) who was shooting for the Daegu World Championships A-standard of sub-27:40 but came up just short in a large PB of 27:47.79 In so doing Watanabe, the all-time #2 Japanese man over 1500 m best-known for blacking out meters before the finish while leading the 2008 National Championships 1500 m, became the first Japanese man to break both 3:40 and 28:00. Missing the A-standard means that Watanabe will run only the 5000 m in Daegu.
More of a shock than Watanabe were the next two runners after him, Komazawa University sophomore Ikuto Yufu and junior Hiromitsu Kakuage, who ra…