Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label Keisuke Nakatani

2017 Hakone Ekiden Starting Lists and Preview

by Brett Larner



It's almost time for the two greatest days of the year, Japan's biggest and best road race, the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden.  Starting lists for each of the twenty-one teams' sixteen-man rosters at Hakone's 93rd edition are out, and below JRN gives you an early look at how the race is shaping up.  Follow @JRNLive for live English-language coverage of one of the sport's truly great events.

Hakone is a road relay run over two days, ten stages of around a half marathon in length each, five from downtown Tokyo up to the mountain town of Hakone on Jan. 2 and five more running back down on Jan. 3.  There is simply nothing else like it anywhere in the world, in quality, in presentation, in popularity.  It's a cultural phenomenon that shows the best of what long distance running can be, even if the cost can be high.

Twenty university men's teams from around the greater Tokyo area and one select team make up the field, each with an entry roster of sixteen…

Aoyama Gakuin On the Way to the Triple Crown - National University Men's Ekiden Championships Preview

by Brett Larner



University men's ekiden season gets into full swing at Sunday's National University Men's Ekiden Championships, the second of the Big Three University Ekidens.  Last year Aoyama Gakuin University looked set to become just the fourth team in history to win the Izumo-Nationals-Hakone ekiden triple crown, but Toyo University put on a performance that head coach Toshiyuki Sakai tearfully described as "180%" to stop Aoyama Gakuin dead and score its first-ever national title. This year, with a solid win at the season-opening Izumo Ekiden behind it Aoyama Gakuin looks ready to do what it couldn't last year.

The top 16-ranked teams at Sunday's 48th National University Men's Ekiden. Click to enlarge.


Aoyama Gakuin is far and away the favorite, leading the field in average 5000 m, 10000 m and half marathon bests among its top eight men.  With the Nationals course featuring eight stages between 9.5 km and 19.7 km and averaging 13.35 km 10000 m and …

Wambui and Nakatani Take 10000 m Titles on First Day of Kanto Regionals

by Brett Larner

Patrick Wambui/Nihon 28:21.61 to win Kanto Regionals D1 men's 10000m. pic.twitter.com/B0mvzhpgp0 — Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) May 19, 2016
The 95th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, the year's toughest meet for university men, kicked off Thursday at Yokohama's Nissan Stadium.  27-minute Kenyan second-years Patrick Wambui (Nihon Univ.) and Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) went head-to-head in the D1 men's 10000 m, Nyairo pushing it at 28:00 pace through 3000 m to burn off all the Japanese competition except for Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.), the fastest Japanese man in the race with a 28:32.85 best and likewise a second-year.  As the pace relaxed Shojiri held on through 8000 m before a small gap opened, but it wasn't until Wambui attacked with two laps to go that he really lost ground.  Wambui and Nyairo came into the home straight side-by-side and with his last kick Wambui proved the stronger, winning by less t…

Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships Preview

by Brett Larner

The Tokyo area’s best springtime meet, the 95th edition of the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships run this Thursday through Sunday, banished again by the poorly-conceived demolition of the beloved 1964 Olympic Stadium to Nissan Stadium in the remote wildlands of suburban Yokohama. Kanto being the home of the Hakone Ekiden the men’s distance events make up most of the most exciting action, but there are other highlights on the entry list.

It’s hard to believe sprint wunderkind Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) is already in his junior year, but with the Olympics looking he still soldiers on in hopes of scoring Japan’s first legit sub-10 in the 100 m. He is entered in both the 100 m and the 4x100 m, giving the 200 m a miss with bigger things at stake in the next few months. National high school record holder Meg Hemphill (Chuo Univ.) is the favorite in the women’s heptathlon, still well shy of the Rio standard of 6200 with a best of 5730 but still grow…

Japanese World Half Marathon Championships Roster

by Brett Larner

Japan is sending one of its better teams in recent World Half Marathon Championships history to Saturday's race in Cardiff.  20-year-old Keijiro Mogi, a training partner of 10000 m national record holder Kota Murayama at the Asahi Kasei corporate team, leads the men's roster with a 1:00:54 best.  Hakone Ekiden powerhouse Komazawa University features heavily, with current Komazawa runners Keisuke Nakatani and Naoki Kudo and 2015 graduate Shogo Nakamura (Team Fujitsu) making up the core of the men's team. 

The women's team includes three sub-70 runners led by Miho Shimizu (Team Hokuren) with support from Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and Mirai Waku (Team Univ. Ent.).  With the exception of Mizuki Matsuda (Team Daihatsu), all will be making their international road debuts.

World Half Marathon Championships
Cardiff, U.K., 3/26/16 
click here for timetable and complete rosters

Men
Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) - 1:00:54 (Marugame Half 2016)
Keisuke Nakatani (Ko…

JAAF Names World Half Marathon and Asian XC Teams

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXLSSXK40674_Y6A210C1000000/

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Feb. 18 the JAAF named the five men and five women on the Japanese team for the Mar. 26 World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff, U.K.  Additionally, they also announced the lineup for the Feb. 29 Asian Cross-Country Championships in Manama, Bahrain, with Shuho Dairokuno (Team Asahi Kasei) leading the senior men's team.

The World Half Marathon Championships team:

Men
Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) - 1:00:54 (Marugame Half 2016)
Keisuke Nakatani (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:21 (Marugame Half 2016)
Naoki Kudo (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:25 (Marugame Half 2016)
Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) - 1:01:53 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2016)
Minato Oishi (Toyota) - 1:02:06 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2013)

Women
Miho Shimizu (Hokuren) - 1:09:41 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2016)
Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:09:51 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2015)
Mirai Waku (Universal Entertainment) - 1:09:56 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2015)
Hisami Ishii…

Aichi Men Make it a National Title Double - National Men's Ekiden Results

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 prefecture too…

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…

Japanese Men Dominate World University Games Half Marathon - Day Five Japanese Results

by Brett Larner
video by naoki620



Following in the footsteps of his former Aoyama Gakuin University teammate Takehiro Deki's win at last weekend's Gold Coast Half Marathon, Yusuke Ogura became the first Japanese man since 2001 to win the World University Games half marathon taking gold in 1:04:41.  Ogura, who played a key role in AGU's course record-setting Hakone Ekiden win in January and ran 1:02:03 at February's Marugame Half Marathon, led his AGU teammate and National University Half Marathon championTadashi Isshiki and Yuta Takahashi (Teikyo Univ.) in a sweep of the podium, the first time in World University Games history that men from a single country have taken all three half marathon medals.

A slow first 10 km kept most of the field together, but a move from the Japanese athletes shortly after that broke things up quickly, and by 15 km they were well ahead of chasers Soufiane Bouchikhi (Belgium) and Naoki Kudo (Komazawa Univ.), the runner-up behind Isshiki at th…

World University Games Day Three Japanese Results

by Brett Larner

Japanese athletes came up empty-handed on day three of the 2015 Gwangju World University Games, none of the three athletes to make finals on the day scoring medals.  Takamasa Kitagawa (Juntendo Univ.) was short in the men's 400 m final, running 46.03 for 7th.  After running well in the men's 200 m heats and semifinals, Takuya Nagata (Hosei Univ.) and Kotaro Taniguchi (Chuo Univ.) likewise had trouble translating that into success in the final, finishing 6th and 7th.

A day after winning bronze in the men's 10000 m, Keisuke Nakatani (Komazawa Univ.) returned to win the relatively slow second heat of the 5000 m in 14:01.40.  3000 mSC national champion Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) likewise doubled from the 10000 m, placing 2nd in the faster heat one in 14:01.40.  Promising in the men's 110 mH heats, Genta Masuno (Kokusai Budo Univ.) ran 13.76 for 2nd in his heat, advancing on.  With a full 100 m - 200 m double schedule, Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.)…

Matsunaga and Nakatani Score Bronze - World University Games Day Two Japanese Results

by Brett Larner

Daisuke Matsunaga (Toyo Univ.) became the first Japanese athletics medalist of the 2015 Gwangju World University Games on day two of competition, winning bronze in the men's 20 km in 1:22:06 after falling just over 30 seconds off a close race between eventual gold medalist Dane Bird-Smith (Australia) and Benjamin Thorne (Canada).

12 hours later, Keisuke Nakatani (Komazawa Univ.) repeated the feat in the final track final of the day, winning bronze in the men's 10000 m in 29:19.30 four seconds back from gold medalist Igor Maximov (Russia) and just losing out to Nicolae-Alexandru Soare (Romania) for silver.  After winning the 5000 m and 10000 m at May's Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships and running a 28:31.84 best for 10000 m and winning the 3000 mSC national title in June, Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) had a rare off day, finishing 9th in just 29:52.91.

Sprinter Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.) made it to the women's 200 m semifi…

World University Games Japanese Roster

by Brett Larner

The IUAU has announced the Japanese men's and women's rosters for July's Universiade, the World University Games, in Gwangju, South Korea.  2012 London Olympian Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.), 2014 World Junior Championships men's 400 m silver medalist Nobuya Kato (Waseda Univ.) and 200 m 4th-placer Yuki Koike (Keio Univ.) feature prominently in the sprints, with 2014 Youth Olympics men's high jump silver medalist Yuji Hiramatsu (Tsukuba Univ.) leading the field contingent.  The strong men's distance squad is led by 2015 National University Half Marathon champion Tadashi Isshiki (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) and 2015 Kanto Regionals D2 double 5000 m and 10000 m champion Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), while 2015 National University Half Marathon champion Ayumi Uehara (Matsuyama Univ.) and 2015 Kanto Regional double 5000 m and 10000 m champion Sakurako Fukuuchi (Daito Bunka Univ.) front the women's distance group.

28th Universiade
Gwangju, South K…

Aoyama Gakuin Sets Course Record, Favorite Komazawa Suffers DNF Near-Miss - Hakone Ekiden Day One

by Brett Larner
photos by rikujouove and ekiden_news
click here for Hakone Ekiden Day Two report and results

Aoyama Gakuin University opened the 91st Hakone Ekiden with an incredible team performance, chasing down frontrunning national champion Komazawa University on the mountainous final stage of the day to set a new record of 5:23:58 for the five-stage, 107.5 km net uphill Day One course.

The heavy favorite, Komazawa led off with its two big guns, Shogo Nakamura, sub-62 at the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships, and Kenta Murayama, sub-61 at last year's Marugame Half.  Nakamura struggled in the early part of the second half of the 21.3 km First Stage, losing touch with the small lead group at least twice before making a move.  1:01:36 on the First Stage last year, he pulled away for the stage win in 1:02:00, but just 1 second behind him was Aoyama Gakuin junior Kazuma Kubota followed closely by Ken Yokote of 2014 National University Ekiden runner-up Meiji University, Masaya Tag…

World Junior Championships Day One - Japanese Results

by Brett Larner

The men's 10000 m rounded out the day as the only final on the first day of competition at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, U.S.A.  After a slow first lap Keisuke Nakatani of 2013 National University Ekiden champion Komazawa University went to the front to get the race moving, tailed only by 2014 Hakone Ekiden winner Toyo University's Hazuma Hattori.  Ranked 6th and 7th in the field by PB, the two Japanese athletes, both stage winners at January's Hakone Ekiden, were initially ignored by the faster Africans, allowing them to open a lead that at one point maxed at around 100 m.  Despite the gap, the pair's pace was never unrealistic as Nakatani held close to 29:10 pace, roughly 20 second slower than his best.  His projected finishing time based on his splits through 6000 m show how steadily he ran:

1000 m: 29:18.70 2000 m: 29:15.55 3000 m: 29:13.57 4000 m: 29:09.53 5000 m: 29:10.54 6000 m: 29:11.73
The slight surge between 3 and 4000 m…