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Aoyama Gakuin University Halfway to Defending Hakone Ekiden Title - Day One Results

by Brett Larner
photos by @rikujolove

click here for Day Two and overall results and report

Last year's course record-setting Hakone Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University went halfway to its first-ever title defense today, leading the five-stage 107.5 km Day One start to finish to win in 5:25:55.

Hakone Ekiden lead pack at Shinagawa Station pic.twitter.com/QjHm9HqJyN — Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) January 1, 2016
With conditions superb the entire field went out hard, all 21 teams going through the 5 km mark on the 21.3 km First Stage in 14:13, 59:59 half marathon pace.  10 km came in 28:38 with 14 teams still up front before the first notable victim, 2015 Ageo City Half Marathon winner Kenya Sonota of last year's runner-up Komazawa University, lost touch, and 13 were still in play as the pack hit 15 km in 43:23.  With wins on his stages at the season's other two major ekidens Aoyama Gakuin 4th-year Kazuma Kubota made the first real move, breaking away with only sub-2…
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Aoyama Gakuin University Sends Eight Men Sub-29 in One Race at Kanto Region 10000 m Time Trials

by Brett Larner
video by naoki620



With six weeks to the day to go to the start of the 2016 Hakone Ekiden, defending champion Aoyama Gakuin University showed that it is right on the cusp of realizing head coach Susumu Hara's vision with one of the greatest team performances in Japanese track history at the Kanto Region University 10000 m Time Trials at Kanagawa's beautiful Keio University Field. 

青学強すぎる((((；ﾟДﾟ))))))) pic.twitter.com/Jd9TEhI2Gt — EKIDEN News (@EKIDEN_News) November 21, 2015
Aoyama Gakuin's entire roster of A-listers was entered in the fastest of the day's 13 heats, and in absolutely perfect conditions all but captain Daichi Kamino started.  Senior Kazuma Kubota, winner of his stages at this season's Izumo and National University Ekidens, led almost the entire way after a 2:47 opening 1000 m, talented first-year Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.), 2015 World University Games half marathon bronze medalist Yuta Takahashi (Teikyo Univ.) and silver med…
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Toyo Takes Down Aoyama Gakuin for First-Ever National University Men's Ekiden Championships Title

by Brett Larner
photos and video by Ekiden News

優勝東洋大学！ #全日本大学駅伝pic.twitter.com/01s67HXnpv — EKIDEN News (@EKIDEN_News) November 1, 2015
"You never know unless you try."

 #4-ranked Toyo University outran all expectations, even their own, to take down heavy favorite Aoyama Gakuin University in a thrilling head-to-head battle over almost the entire 8-stage, 106.8 km course to win its first-ever National University Men's Ekiden Championships title.

At a public talk event last week Hiroaki Oyagi, head coach of four-time defending national champ Komazawa University grudgingly paid tribute to the fresh green Aoyama Gakuin uniform, saying, "We'd like to win a fifth title, but this year everything's gone green."  For his part, popular young Toyo head coach Toshiyuki Sakai, famed for transforming Toyo into the team that redefined the Hakone Ekiden, said simply, "You never know unless you try."  And try Toyo did.

From the first leg, Toyo's Yuma Hatto…
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Aoyama Gakuin University Smashes Izumo Ekiden Course Record (updated)

by Brett Larner



Despite missing its best runner, 2015 Hakone Ekiden course record setter Aoyama Gakuin University delivered a thrilling anchor stage win over defending champion Komazawa University to win the 2015 Izumo Ekiden in a course record 2:09:05, leading the top five teams on to faster-paced runs than Komazawa's 2013 record-setting win.

For almost the entire race, returning after a typhoon-induced cancellation last year with a 45.1 km course 600 m longer than Komazawa's 2:09:11 course record win version in 2013, Aoyama Gakuin and Komazawa dueled head to head for the title in the first of the Big Three University Ekidens, the crown jewels of Japan's racing schedule.  Komazawa's Keisuke Nakatani, this year's World University Games 10000 m bronze medalist, went to his limit against AGU rival Yusuke Ogura, the World University Games half marathon gold medalist, beating him by 15 seconds to put Komazawa well ahead on the 8.0 km First Stage. 

Komazawa's second…
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A Battle of Champions - Izumo Ekiden Preview

by Brett Larner


The road ahead awaits.  Back after a typhoon-induced cancellation last year, the Izumo Ekiden kicks off the 2015-16 university men's ekiden season on Oct. 12.  Short and sweet with six stages averaging 7.5 km, Izumo is an indication of things to come in the buildup to the biggest of them all, January's season-ending Hakone Ekiden.

2015 Hakone winner Aoyama Gakuin University and defending Izumo champion Komazawa University are the clear favorites, with preceding champs Toyo University and Waseda University and darkhorse Yamanashi Gakuin University conceivably in the game.  Back again this year, the Ivy League Select Team fields a lineup that could see it equal its best-ever 8th-place finish if all goes perfectly.

No typhoon is on the horizon, but the forecast does call for strong winds straight out of the west, meaning a tailwind on the first half of the course and a powerful headwind in the second half.  In the pre-race coaches' press conference almost all…
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Hakone Ekiden's Star Fourth-Years Commit to Nation's Corporate Teams as Final College Ekiden Season Begins

http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20150930-OHT1T50064.html
https://twitter.com/3940highschool/status/649148340030930944

translated and edited by Brett Larner

As university ekiden season begins with the Oct. 12 Izumo Ekiden, their job hunting in its final stages, fourth-year runners from all the major universities are deciding their future paths one by one.  The biggest star of the 2015 Hakone Ekiden, the "Third God of the Mountain" Daichi Kamino (Aoyama Gakuin University) will go on to 2013-14 New Year Ekiden national corporate men's champion Konica Minolta, while 30 km collegiate national record holder Yuma Hattori (Toyo University), targeting the marathon at next year's Rio Olympics, plans to join 2015 New Year Ekiden winner Toyota.  The country's best university runners plot their courses from Hakone beyond to the world stage early.

Kamino's super-fast run up the Fifth Stage at this year's Hakone Ekiden powered Aoyama Gakuin on to the win and new legend …
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World Cross Country Championshps - Japanese Team Roster

by Brett Larner

Japan's team for this weekend's World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang, China features 21 athletes.  As always, its strongest contingent is its junior women, in this case led by 9:00.89 high schooler Azusa Sumi, undefeated since 2013, and teammate Yuka Sarumida of Toyokawa H.S.  The junior men's team features three athletes with 5000 m bests under 14 minutes including 2014 World Junior Championships team member Shota Onizuka (Omuta H.S.).

2015 Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet winner Mai Shoji (Chukyo Univ.) leads the senior women's squad which also includes her collegiate rival Maki Izumida (Ritsumeikan Univ.).  Once again this year, Japan's senior men are largely giving World Cross a miss, with only three entered versus six on the each of the other three squads.  Corporate runners are completely absent, with 2015 Hakone Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University's Kazuma Kubota the biggest name of the three and Juntendo University tea…
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Japan Names Team of 21 for 2015 World Cross Country Championships

by Brett Larner

Japan will send a team of 21 athletes to next month's World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang, China.  As always, its strongest contingent is its junior women, in this case led by 9:00.89 high schooler Azusa Sumi, undefeated since 2013, and teammate Yuka Sarumida of Toyokawa H.S.  The junior men's team features three athletes with 5000 m bests under 14 minutes including 2014 World Junior Championships team member Shota Onizuka (Omuta H.S.).

2015 Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet winner Mai Shoji (Chukyo Univ.) leads the senior women's squad which also includes her collegiate rival Maki Izumida (Ritsumeikan Univ.).  Once again this year, Japan's senior men are largely giving World Cross a miss, with only three entered versus six on the each of the other three squads.  Corporate runners are completely absent, with 2015 Hakone Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University's Kazuma Kubota the biggest name of the three and Juntendo University teamma…
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"I Want to Build a Foundation Strong Enough That We Can be a Legitimate Contender for the Win" - Head Coach Susumu Hara in 2012 on the Philosophy That Took Aoyama Gakuin University to the 2015 Hakone Ekiden Course Record

interview and photo by Brett Larner

On Jan. 2-3 Aoyama Gakuin University won the biggest title in Japan for the first time, setting an incredible new course record at the 91st running of the Hakone Ekiden in large part thanks to a spectacular run up the mountain on the Fifth Stage by third-year Daichi Kamino and more outstanding runs by his fellow  third-years Kazuma Kubota and Yusuke Ogura.  

Back in the spring of 2012 JRN interviewed then-Aoyama Gakuin third-year Takehiro Deki and head coach Susumu Hara ahead of Deki's marathon debut at Lake Biwa, where he ran 2:10:02.  Hara, a graduate of 2014 National High School Ekiden champion Sera H.S., went to school outside the Kanto region at Aichi's Chukyo University and never ran the Hakone Ekiden, going on to a short-lived and unsuccessful career at the Chugoku Denryoku corporate team before leaving the sports world for an office job.  Years later he returned to take over at Aoyama Gakuin, at the time a complete non-factor in the Ka…
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Inoue Leads Kanto 10000 m Time Trials in 28:19.28 PB

by Brett Larner
video by naoki620

With universities in the Kanto Region gearing up for the season-ending Hakone Ekiden on Jan. 2-3 the KGRR held its annual 10000 m time trial meet Sunday, moved this year from Tokyo's soon-to-be-demolished National Stadium to one of the most beautiful tracks in Japan, Keio University's Hiyoshi Field in Kanagawa.  Sixteen men's 10000 m heats and one women's 10000 m filled up most of the day until well beyond sunset.



In the fastest men's heat, 2014 Copenhagen World Half Marathon Championships team member Hiroto Inoue (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) ran a PB 28:19.28 for the win over last year's top finisher Takuya Fujikawa (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.), whose 28:20.31 was a new AGU school record.  Inoue and Fujikawa ran in a front pack of five that included Kazuma Kubota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.), Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) and Yusuke Osumi (Daito Bunka Univ.), virtually all five men taking turns keeping the pace steady at 2:50/km, 28:20 p…
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Three Record-Setters Face Off for Hakone Ekiden Glory

by Brett Larner



It's almost time for Japan's biggest and best sports event, the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden, the Kanto region university men's championships.  It seems like every year I've come on here and said, "This is going to be the greatest Hakone ever," but it's true.  Things have been accelerating very rapidly in Kanto collegiate distance running.  There have been course records at Hakone the last two years, and this fall the other two Big Three University Ekidens, the Izumo Ekiden and National University Ekiden Championships, also saw course records.  Two years ago 15 athletes in Hakone's field had bests at the sub-13:40, sub-28:30 and sub-1:03:00 level.  Last year there were 19.  This year there are 32, from 15 of the 20 schools in the field.  Where is it going to end?  The battle between the three course record-setting schools this year, Toyo University, Komazawa University and Aoyama Gakuin University, looks set to be one for the ages.



Hakone th…
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Hakone Ekiden's Top Coaches Share Plans and Predictions for January's Main Event

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20121210/ath12121017570005-n1.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner
additional source articles linked within translation

On Dec. 16 the sixteen-man rosters were released for the twenty university teams competing at the 89th running of the two-day, ten-stage, 217.9 km Hakone Ekiden on Jan. 2 and 3.  The same evening, the head coaches appeared at a public event in Ebisu, Tokyo to discuss their teams' conditions, plans and their expectations for what looks to be an intensely competitive edition of the historic event.  Comments from the coaches of the top tier of teams:

YasuyukiWatanabe, WasedaUniversity
3rd, 2012 National University Ekiden Championships
6th, 2012 Izumo Ekiden
4th, 2012 Hakone Ekiden
Course record wins at 2010 Izumo Ekiden, 2010 National University Ekiden Championships and 2011 Hakone Ekiden
I want to put together a running order that forces our opponents to fight when they don't want to.  The mountain will be the key.  That monster…
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Olympic Medalists Priscah Jeptoo and Galen Rupp on Entry Lists for International Chiba Ekiden (updated)

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20121112-1046022.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Nov. 12 Rikuren, the Japanese Federation, released the entry lists for the Nov. 23 International Chiba Ekiden, a six-stage, 42.195 ekiden featuring teams of three men and three women.  Thirteen national teams along with a Japanese University select team and a team from hosts Chiba Prefecture make up the field.

The Japanese national team includes London Olympics women's 10000 m 9th-place finisher and 5000 m national champion Hitomi Niiya (Team Univ. Ent.) and her Olympic teammate, 10000 m national champion Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic) along with top-ranked collegiate runner Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.) and past 1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B).  The Japanese University team features three members of Izumo Ekiden course record-setters Aoyama Gakuin University, Takehiro Deki, Kazuma Kubota and Ryotaro Otani along with 2009 Ageo Cit…
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First-Years Kubota and Ogura 59:28 and 59:59 to Lead Aoyama Gakuin Sweep at Takashimadaira 20 km

by Brett Larner

Less than two weeks after their unexpected course record win at the Izumo Ekiden, Aoyama Gakuin University fired a serious warning shot across the bows of impending Hakone Ekiden rivals Toyo University, Komazawa University, Waseda University and Meiji University. Despite the absence of captain and course record holder Takehiro Deki, Aoyama Gakuin runners swept the top ten at the Takashimadaira 20 km in Tokyo on Oct. 21. First-years Kazuma Kubota and Yusuke Ogura, key elements in their team's Izumo win, led the way with solid 59:28 and 59:59 clockings for 1-2, but the team as a whole was impressive as its tenth finisher was under 1:00:30. Even without 58:51 man Deki. Any questions about Aoyama Gakuin's ability to translate its improvement over the relatively short distances at Izumo to the longer half-marathon stages of Hakone appear to be answered two and a half months out from the main event.

2012 Takashimadaira Road Race 20 km
Takashimadaira, Tokyo, 10/21/1…
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