japan running news

text and photos by Brett Larner
video by Ekiden News

Fresh off two hard-fought losses in the season's first two university ekidens and two big 10000 m PBs at yesterday's Nittai University Time Trials, Komazawa University dominated the fall's major Japanese half marathon as fourth-year Kenya Sonota and third-year Yusuke Nishiyama went 1-2 at the Ageo City Half Marathon.

With invites to the 2016 United Airline NYC Half on the line to the top two Japanese collegiate finishers, in light rain and temps in the mid-teens the pack went out on fast on high-1:01 pace, clearing 5 km in 14:40 with a lead pack of around ten gaining separation on a larger chase pack.

The pace slowed slightly over the next 5 km, the leaders going through 10 km in 29:33, with the chase group of around 20 still in sight.  On the most technical part of the course near 13 km the leaders slowed as the humidity rose before a move from Taiga Machizawa (Chuo Univ.) shook things up, dropping Shinichiro Nakamura (W…

by Brett Larner
videos by Ekiden News



Two months after his 3rd-place finish on the Hakone Ekiden's most competitive stage helped put Aoyama Gakuin University in position for the overall win and a month after running a 1:02:09 PB at the Marugame Half, 20-year-old AGU second-year Tadashi Isshiki scored his first national title with a 1:02:11 win at the 18th National University Men's Half Marathon Championships in Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park.  After record-setting depth last year when a world record 207 men broke 1:06:00 the National University Half blew minds again this year, the top 12 all breaking 1:02:30 and 27 collegiate men going under 1:03:00.  With perfect conditions today the field excelled, completely rewriting the record books as 265 men went under 1:06:00.

With places on the Japanese team for this summer's World University Games half marathon for the top three finishers and a bigger dream hovering in the distance 5 1/2 years away the massive pack went out fast an…

http://www.saga-s.co.jp/news/saga_sports.0.2638394.article.html
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/aomori/news/20140223-OYT8T00881.htm
http://www.komaspo.com/4630
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/kyoto/news/20140223-OYT8T00902.htm

translated and edited by Brett Larner

A total of 1700 men and women of all ages ran in the half marathon, 10 km, 3 km and 2 km divisions at the 63rd running of the Kashima Yutoku Half Marathon on Feb. 23.  In the men's open half marathon division, Masaya Taguchi (Toyo University) took 47 seconds off the course record to win in 1:03:05.  Taguchi was responsible for getting Toyo off to a good start on the First Stage at last month's Hakone Ekiden, playing a big part in the team's win.  Bringing the same intensity to his course record run, he thoroughly dominated the men's half marathon.

Olympian and university 5000 m national record holder Kensuke Takezawa (Team Sumitomo Kaijo) was also in the race.  "He has been an inspiration since I was in ju…

by Brett Larner
photo by Kazuyuki Sugimatsu

click here for Hakone Ekiden Day One report and results



Before 2009 Toyo University had only finished in the top three once in the history of Japan's biggest sporting event, the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden university men's road relay championships, all the way back in 1960.  In Hakone's 85th anniversary running in 2009, the tens of millions of fans who watch Hakone live on TV and along its ten-stage, 217.9 km course were witness to the birth of a legend as Toyo first-year Ryuji Kashiwabara singlehandly lifted the team to the winner's podium for the first time with a stunning course record on Hakone's most celebrated stage, the 23.4 km Fifth Stage with nearly 900 m of climb.  With Kashiwabara Toyo was almost untouchable at Hakone; he won the Fifth Stage all four years at Toyo and set stage records on it in three of them.  Every time he broke the record, Toyo took the overall win, transforming themselves from the likable underdogs…

by Brett Larner

The last major national ekiden of the season takes place this Sunday in Hiroshima with the 17th running of the seven-stage, 48.0 km National Men's Interprefectural Ekiden Championships.  Like last weekend's women's race the National Men's Ekiden features 47 teams from each of Japan's prefectures made up of runners all the way from junior high school students to pros, and like the women's ekiden it will be broadcast live nationwide and commercial-free on NHK beginning at 12:15 p.m, with the action getting underway at 12:30.  Overseas viewers should be able to watch online for free via Keyhole TV with the password NHK, and English-language commentary will again be available via Twitter @JRNLive.

The National Men's Ekiden entry lists are notoriously unreliable as predictors of final starting order, but based on what is available at this point 2010 champion Hyogo Prefecture is the clear champion, with all seven of its athletes ranked among the b…

by Brett Larner

Beyond all the road action in Fukuoka and Kosa, this weekend saw the last two big track time trial meets before the national championship ekidens.  High schoolers made most of the noteworthy news at both meets.  On the first day of the Nittai Time Trials in Yokohama, Ken Yokote (Sakushin Gakuin H.S.) ran 28:57.31 to place 3rd in the men's 10000 m B-heat behind pros Jun Shinoto (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) and Kazuki Onishi (Team Kanebo).  Led by World XC silver medalist Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko) Africans took the top 10 places in Sunday's men's 5000 m, but close behind in 13:55.91 and 13:57.30 were the aptly-named Kenya Sonota (Aomori Yamada H.S.) and Soma Ishikawa (Sano Nichidai Prep H.S.).  Ishikawa's time was the 3rd-best ever by a Japanese high school junior.  The high school girls also ran well at Nittai, with outstanding first-year Rosemary Wanjiru (Aomori Yamada H.S.) running 15:26.07 in one of the men's 5000 m heats, Momoko Akiyama (Hakuoh Jo…

by Brett Larner

Earlier this season Samuel Wanjiru's disaster-hit alma mater Sendai Ikuei H.S. had a big run to win the Miyagi Prefecture High School Ekiden.  Sendai Ikuei followed up Nov. 10 with another big one, setting a 2:04:43 course record to win the seven-stage, 42.195 km Tohoku Region High School Ekiden over rival Aomori Yamada H.S.  Sendai Ikuei started slow, running 3rd behind early leader Tamura H.S. and Aomori Yamada after the first two stages before current Kenyan ace Hiram Ngatia got things into gear.  Ngatia outran Aomori Yamada's John Maina to set a 22:53 record on the 8.1075 km Third Stage, handing off to Fourth Stage runner Tadashi Isshiki in 2nd.  Isshiki, one of the best Japanese high schoolers this year, had little trouble making up the 5-second deficit to leader Aomori Yamada over the 8.0875 km stage, setting a 23:51 course record of his own to put Sendai Ikuei 18 seconds up.  Sendai Ikuei's next two runners kept up the lead before anchor Yuki Ajima p…