japan running news

Credited as being only 17 years old, Ethiopian Yeneblo Biyazen (Yachiyo Kogyo) made a big splash in his 10000 m debut, running an under-18 world-leading 27:32.51 to lead 12 men under 28 minutes at Hosei University's Hachioji Long Distance Meet. Biyazen and compatriot teammate Abiyot Abinet ran together throughout the race before Biyazen dropped an incredible kick over the last lap. Abinet couldn't match it, running a PB 27:37.62 to outlast Kenyan Muthoni Muiru (Soka Univ.) for 2nd. Muiru's 27:38.05 PB run ranked him at all-time #3 among sutdent athletes at Japanese universities.

With an overall slow opening pace,  half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda), decked out in Nike's Vaporfly 4%, did his share of the heavy lifting up front but was never on for a shot at the 27:29.69 national record set in Hachioji two years ago. Riding the ebbs and flows of the race before losing touch with the lead trio over the last lap he snipped one second off his PB to t…

by Brett Larner
video by Ekiden News



Fourteen and a half years is a long time to wait.

Everything was aligned. The field. The weather.  The loom of impending Olympic glory.  The sheer vibe.  Hachioji.   Thousands of fans packed around a home soil track tucked in the mountainous foothills of suburban western Tokyo knowing they were going to see something special, that, after the 5000 meter-wide leak sprung mid-summer by the Salazar-powered Suguru Osako, the sheer mass of young talent building in Japan was finally going to break through the dam holding them back.

All credit due to Kenyan William Malel (Honda), who went out at 10000 m world record pace and led completely alone start to finish, withering on the vine with 1000 to go but pulling down a PB of 27:22.12 for the win, and to Johana Maina (Fujitsu) who almost ran him down.  But the race was not their story.

From the start Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei), once the fastest-ever Japanese collegiate over 10000 m and until today the …

https://www.minpo.jp/news/detail/2015090825188

translated and edited by Brett Larner
video by 遠藤清也



Just a month after his 17th birthday, Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. 2nd-year Hyuga Endo ran 8:01.95 for 3000 m at the Sept. 5 Premium Games in Sakata time trial meet in Sakata, Yamagata, breaking the Japanese high school and youth national records.  Endo's time, a PB by more than 15 seconds, took nearly 4 seconds off the 8:05.82 high school national record set 11 years ago by Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin, then Saku Chosei H.S.) and almost 7 seconds off the 8:08.57 youth national record set in 2010 by Kazuto Nishiike (Team Konica Minolta, then Suma Gakuen H.S.).

Endo was paced by his Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. 3rd-year teammates Kazuyoshi Tamogami and Hiroki Abe until 1500 m where he went out front alone.  Keeping the high pace, he kicked hard over the last 400 m to the finish line to break both records.

Endo ran the 3000 m at July's World Youth Championships where he was overpowered by African…

by Brett Larner

This ekiden season I've had a few thoughts kicking around, and watching this week's Hakone Ekiden a few of them became clearer.  These are still in progress, but at the moment this is what I'm thinking in terms of running as a spectator sport and about the quality of Japanese men's distance running right now.



Quality: Japanese men's running is coming up very, very quickly.  I was in the lead car at November's Ageo City Half Marathon, where 18 men, 17 of them university runners, broke 63 minutes.  As it was going on we all thought it was a slow race because there were so many people running that pace all the way, no separation at all in the mass of the pack. See the JRN header photo above, taken just past halfway.  That's pretty unusual in Japan, especially at the university level; generally you'll get a handful of guys who run an aggressive pace and a mass running dead on a safe pace, 3:00/km in a half marathon, for example.

The First …

text and photos by Brett Larner
videos courtesy of Ekiden News


On a busy weekend featuring at least seven major events across the country, Japan's biggest race of the weekend took place northwest of Tokyo in Saitama.  With perfect conditions for its 26th running, the Ageo City Half Marathon, consistently one of the world's deepest halves as a consequence of being the unofficial tryout race for Japan's biggest sporting event, the Jan. 2-3 university men's Hakone Ekiden, saw a dramatic race with five men battling to the line to make history.   In a relationship set up by JRN, two invitations to run March's New York City Half Marathon were up for grabs for the first two Japanese collegiate finishers, and, having seen the effect on last year's Ageo winner Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.) who returned from finishing 10th in New York in 2013 to set course records at both the Izumo Ekiden and National University Ekiden Championships, the field responded en masse.



The ra…

by Brett Larner

Triple 2013 Kanto Region 1500 m, 5000 m and 10000 m champion Enock Omwamba led Yamanashi Gakuin University through the woods to take the top position at the National University Ekiden Championships Kanto Region Qualifier June 30 at Tokyo's National Stadium.  One of the most interesting meets on the Kanto circuit, the Kanto Region qualifier features twenty second-tier teams vying for seven spots at November's National University Ekiden Championships, every team with two men in each of four heats and the team's standing determined by the accumulated time of all eight men.  Team supporters line the track making noise and creating a high-energy environment.

Heading into the fourth and final heat, Yamanashi Gakuin had a lead of less than 7 seconds over rival Hosei University.  Omwamba led start to finish, dropping his trailers one by one to finish in 28:18.77, beating Hosei ace Kazuto Nishiike by almost 47 seconds and making hefty donation to the cause.  Yamanas…

by Brett Larner

The 2011 National Interprefectural Men's Ekiden Championships take place Jan. 23 in Hiroshima. The race, which features teams made up of the best pro, university, high school and junior high school runners from each of Japan's 47 prefectures, will be broadcast live and commerical-free on NHK beginning at 12:15 p.m. Overseas viewers should be able to watch live online for free using Keyhole TV, available here, with password NHK. JRN will be doing live English-language commentary via Twitter @JRNLive. Live splits and race highlight videos will be available on NHK's race website.

Looking at the overall team competition, despite the absence of last year's anchor Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B), defending champion Hyogo is in an excellent position to defend its title with five of the team's seven runners ranked among the best on their respective stages. Look for First Stage runner Kazuto Nishiike, winner of last year's National High School Ekiden First…

by Brett Larner

Click photo for video highlights.

Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S. unexpectedly ran down defending champion Sera H.S. on the final two stages to win a dramatic 2010 National High School Boys Ekiden, its first-ever national title in the event's 61-year history.

Kazuto Nishiike (Suma Gakuen H.S.), who finished 0.02 seconds out of the medals in the boys' 3000 m at last summer's Youth Olympics, took the race out hard with a 29:35 for the 10 km First Stage. Kagoshima Jitsugyo's Takashi Ichida was just 3 seconds back, with another 5 seconds separating Ichida from pursuers Sendai Ikuei H.S. and Kyushu Gakuin H.S. Suma Gakuen's Second Stage runner Yudai Yamamoto lengthened the team's lead over Sendai Ikuei and Kyushu Gakuin, while Kagoshima Jitsugyo fell to 7th.

The 8.1075 km Third Stage, a showcase for the top Kenyan high schoolers in Japan, saw a shakeup to the runner as defending champions Sera H.S.' new ace Charles Ndirangu delivered a big performance. With …

2010 National Sports Festival - Top Results
Oct. 3, Chiba Sogo Sports Center Stadium
click here for complete results
High School Boys' 5000 m - final
1. Titus Waroru (Kenya/Chinzei H.S.) - 13:39.43
2. Genki Yagisawa (Nasu Takuyo H.S.) - 13:57.37
3. Takashi Ichida (Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S.) - 13:57.76
4. Shogo Nakamura (Ueno Kogyo H.S.) - 13:59.88
5. Norihisa Imai (Gijuku Ishikawa H.S.) - 14:06.98
6. Kazuto Nishiike (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 14:07.58
7. Kenta Murayama (Meisei H.S.) - 14:07.91
8. Naoki Shimada (Hamamatsu Nittai H.S.) - 14:12.48
9. Ryoma Takeuchi (Tokai Oyamagata H.S.) - 14:13.14
10. Kei Fumimoto (Rakunan H.S.) - 14:17.73

Women's 1500 m - final
1. Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic) - 4:12.38 - MR
2. Ayako Jinnouchi (Team Kyudenko) - 4:18.22
3. Yukari Soh (Team Asahi Kasei) - 4:18.38

High School Girls' 1500 m - final (10/2)
1. Risa Yokoe (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 4:16.90 - MR
2. Tomoka Kimura (Chikushi Jogakuen H.S.) - 4:17.93 - MR
3. Shiho Takeda (Tokiwa H.S.) - 4:23.39

Men's 1500 m - final
…

2010 National Sports Festival - Top Results
Chiba Sogo Sports Center Stadium, Oct. 1
click here for complete results
Women's 5000 m
1. Tomoka Inadomi (Team Wacoal) - 15:30.34
2. Risa Takenaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 15:31.12
3. Noriko Matsuoka (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 15:34.77
4. Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 15:35.95
5. Hikari Yoshimoto (Bukkyo Univ.) - 15:37.72
6. Ayuko Suzuki (Meijo Univ.) - 15:37.83
7. Shoko Mori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 15:44.62
8. Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) - 15:45.97
9. Saori Yamashita (Team Hokuren) - 15:52.37
10. Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 15:56.93

Junior Men's 5000 m - Heat 1
1. Kazuto Nishiike (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 14:06.46
2. Kenta Murayama (Meisei H.S.) - 14:07.03
3. Shogo Nakamura (Ueno Kogyo H.S.) - 14:07.34

Junior Men's 5000 m - Heat 2
1. Titus Waroru (Kenya/Chinzei H.S.) - 13:58.49
2. Takashi Ichida (Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S.) - 14:08.23
3. Genki Yagisawa (Nasu Takuyo H.S.) - 14:21.14

by Brett Larner

Double-click video to open in new window and bypass IOC block.

Despite holding PB and SB times head and shoulders above the rest of the competition in the Youth Olympics girls' 3000 m final, Moe Kyuma only managed a silver medal performance with a clocking of 9:23.70, 10 seconds behind Kenyan winner Gladys Chesir who recorded a PB of 9:13.58. Kyuma and Chesir battled from the outset, but after a 3:01.62 first km Kyuma backed off while Chesir, pursued by Eritrean Samrawit Mengisteab, continued to push on. Mengisteab lost touch within 200 m, and by 1600 m Kyuma had overtaken her for 2nd.

At 2000 m Chesir clocked 6:04.09 to Kyuma's 6:14.68. The gap widened slightly over the next 400 m, but over the final 600 m Kyuma steadily reeled Chesir back in. Only over the last 100 m did Chesir again pull away, her winning time nearly 5 seconds off Kyuma's best. With only a decent performance Kyuma easily held 2nd. Mengisteab was overtaken by Greek runner Aikaterini Berdousi…

by Brett Larner

The girls' and boys' 3000 m finals will be broadcast live on the 2010 Youth Olympic Games' outstanding website on Aug. 22. Throughout the Singapore Games the website has offered a glimpse of how coverage of an international championship event should be: eight online channels offering a range of different sports, many of which never make mainstream television coverage otherwise, as well as a selection of events available on demand and a ninth channel with news and highlights. All for free. No doubt this indicates a lack of interest in purchasing broadcast rights on the part of major broadcasters, but the quality of the Youth Olympics coverage simply illustrates how much the major broadcasters shortchange their viewers during the regular Olympics and other championship events by offering nothing comparable, even on a pay-per-view basis.

The girls' 3000 m final begins at 8:05 p.m. Singapore time, 9:05 p.m. Japan time on Channel 1. Japanese ace Moe Kyuma, hol…

Double-click video to open in new window and bypass IOC block.

by Brett Larner

On the first day of track and field competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore on Aug. 17, Japan's Moe Kyuma and Kazuto Nishiike easily advanced to the A-final in the girls' and boys' 3000 m races. In the opposite approach to most championships, all entrants in the Youth Olympics Games 3000 m competed in the qualifying round at the same time, with the results dividing the field into several different final rounds. Only those in the A-final are elligible to receive a medal.

Kyuma, holder of both the fastest personal and season bests in the girls' field, ran comfortably in the qualifying round to finish 2nd in 9:35.33. Qualifying round winner Gladys Chesir of Kenya ran a PB of 9:25.44 but was still over 15 seconds off Kyuma's best and nearly 10 seconds off her season best. In the boys' race, Nishiike was ranked only 4th coming into the qualifying round and, despite running a…

by Brett Larner

Two days after winning the 2010 National High School Track and Field Championships 1500 m by a hair, Aomori Yamada H.S. senior Michael Githinji had another narrow win in the men's 5000 m to complete the distance double at this year's Championships. As in the 1500 m, Githinji outkicked the top Japanese man, in this case Suma Gakuen H.S. senior Kazuto Nishiike, in the home stretch to win in 13:59.86. Nishiike, just back from the World Junior Championships, barely held off Shogo Nakamura of Ueno Kogyo H.S. for 2nd in 14:00.54, Nakamura taking 3rd in 14:00.98. Nishiike will next compete in the 3000 m at the Youth Olympics in Singapore later this month.

The 2010 Nationals finish up Aug. 2nd with the finals of the women's 3000 m. For complete results click here.

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

http://www.iaaf.org/WJC10/news/kind=100/newsid=57749.html

Note: The article above incorrectly states that women's 400 m hurdler Shiori Miki set a Japanese national record at the World Junior Championships. Miki's time of 57.35 broke her own junior national record but was nearly two seconds short of the Japanese national record.

2010 World Junior Championships - Top Results
click here for complete results
Men's 5000 m Final
1. David Kiprotich Bett (KEN) - 13:23.76
2. John Kipkoech (KEN) - 13:26.02 - PB
3. Aziz Lahbabi (MAR) - 13:28.92 - NJR
-----
7. Kazuto Nishiike (JPN) - 13:54.33 - PB(ranked 11th pre-race)
8. Akinobu Murasawa (JPN) - 13:59.66 (ranked 5th pre-race)

Women's 400 mH Final
1. Katsiaryna Artsiukh (BLR) - 56.16
2. Vera Rudakova (RUS) - 57.16 - PB
3. Evonne Britton (USA) - 57.32 - PB
-----
4. Shiori Miki (JPN) - 57.35 - PB, NJR

Men's 110 mH Semi-Final Heat One
1. Wataru Yazawa (JPN) - 13.57 - PB
2. Caleb Cross (USA) - 13.72
3. Mitchell Tysoe (AUS) - 13.77

Men's 4 x 400 m …