japan running news

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translated and edited by Brett Larner

The 57th Kanaguri Memorial Kumanichi 30 km Road Race takes place this Sunday, Feb. 17 on a federation-certified course in Kumamoto.  An historic event that has been the site of countless classic races including a 1:28:00 world record by Takayuki Matsumiya, last year Kumanichi got with the times and joined forces with the new mass-participation Kumamoto Castle Marathon, forging the start of a new era in its history.  With high-profile civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) among the combined 62 men and women entered in the 30 km distance, this year promises to be a gripping and unforgettable race.  Below we profile some of the favorites for the win in the men's and women's …

http://kumanichi.com/fsports/marathon/2013/kiji/20130117001.xhtml

translated by Brett Larner

On Jan. 16 the organizers of the Feb. 17 Kumamoto-jo Marathon released the names of the 15 invited athletes for the 57th running of the event's accompanying elite-level Kumanichi 30 km Road Race.

The most-watched athlete is bound to be civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.), who will be running Kumanichi as a tuneup for the Mar. 3 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the final domestic selection race for the Japanese national team for this summer's Moscow World Championships.  Kawauchi's main competition will come from 21-year-old Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota), whose win on the First Stage of this year's New Year Ekiden and 2012 bests of 27:41.57 and 1:00:53 rank him as the #1 man in the country right now in a class of speed that Kawauchi cannot hope to match.  Kenyan Daniel Gitau (Team Fujitsu) also outranks Kawauchi on pure speed.

Two runners from 2013 Hakone Ekiden 2nd-…

by Brett Larner
click here for a collection of 2013 Hakone Ekiden photos courtesy of jiji.com
click here for video highlights courtesy of NTV

Riding the momentum of its Day One win, Nittai University ran unchallenged throughout the second day of the 2013 HakoneEkiden to take its first overall Hakone title in 30 years, crossing the line in 11:13:26 with a lead of nearly five minutes over defending champion Toyo University. Nittai, winners of October’s Yosenkai qualifier after finishing a miserable 19th at Hakone last year, became the first team in Hakone’s 89-year history to go from the qualifier to the overall win. With its last winning team in 1983 having included future marathon world champion Hiromi Taniguchi in its lineup, Nittai’s return to the top took on special symbolic significance.

Nittai’s Yusuke Suzuki made a crucial contribution to the team’s success as he started the day off on the net 750 m downhill Sixth Stage, running well in his Hakone debut to prevent last year’s st…