japan running news

The Kansai Region qualifying race for November's 58th National University Men's Ekiden was held June 7 at Yanmar Field Nagai in Osaka. Kyoto Sangyo University won overall, with Osaka Keizai University , Kwansei Gakuin University and Ritsumeikan University taking the other 3 qualifying spots. 1st the last 2 years, Kansai University placed 5th and missed out on making the main event. 12 teams ran in the qualifying race, each fielding teams of 8 split evenly across 4 heats of 10000 m. Their cumulative times determined the team score, with the 4 fastest teams earning spots. The National University Men's Ekiden happens Nov. 1 on an 8-stage, 106.8 km course from Atsuta Jingu in Aichi to Ise Jingu in Mie. Winner Kyoto Sangyo missed out on qualifying last year, but its win this year had special significance as it earned the team its 50th appearance at Nationals. 2nd-year Tsukito Minami brought momentum to the team's performance in the 2nd 10000 m heat. Osaka Keizai 3rd-ye...

The Tango University Ekiden , the 86th Kansai Region university men's championship race, happened Saturday on an 8-leg, 74.4 km course through Kyoto from Miyazu to Tango. Kyoto Sangyo University successfully defended its win last year in 3:47:52 to take its 34th Kansai title. KSU got off to a slow start, 35 seconds behind the leader in 6th after the opening leg. But on the 11.8 km 2nd leg Kaito Kojima , the top Japanese finisher in September's National University Championships 10000 m, was outstanding. Passing one team after another, he overtook leader Ritsumeikan University near halfway on his stage and pushed on to break the CR he set last year by 11 seconds. By the time he handed off he had a lead of 50 seconds over Ritsumeikan. Ritsumeikan closed that back down to 11 seconds over the 3rd leg, but KSU's 4th runner Taiyo Yamaguchi reopened it with a stage best run. The rest of the team ran a stable safety race, and anchor Daiki Kuwata was all smiles as he broke the ta...

On Feb. 1 the Toyota corporate team announced that Masashi Nonaka , 27, has transferred from longtime sponsor Osaka Gas to join the Toyota roster. Nonaka graduated from Kawanishi Hokuryo H.S. in Hyogo before attending Kwansei Gakuin University , where his achievements included a 7th-place finish in the 5000 m at the 2017 National University Track and Field Championships. Following his graduation from KGU Nonaka joined the Osaka Gas team, running track PBs of 13:35.94 for 5000 m and 27:58.38 for 10000 m in 2021. Last year he showed growth on the roads too, running 1:00:48 at the National Corporate Half Marathon and 2:09:57 at the Osaka Marathon. In comments published on the Toyota team site Nonaka said, "I'm really grateful to have the chance to take things to the next level alongside incredible teammates and staff in a great environment. Thank you all for your continued support." Nonaka is scheduled to run the Mar. 5 Tokyo Marathon. Toyota placed 3rd at this year...

The return of the legendary Ageo City Half Marathon was the biggest news this weekend, but high-level races were happening on the road and track across the country. On the roads, this season's top non-Kanto Region program Kwansei Gakuin University toppled four-time winner Ritsumeikan University to take the top spot at the 84th Tango University Ekiden Saturday in Kyoto. The season ender for Kansai Region schools, Tango saw 22 teams racing 84.5 km in 8 stages. Ritsumeikan led early with a stage win by first runner Yuta Nagasawa before being overtaken by Kansai University on the second leg. Kwansei Gakuin hovered in the top 3 until the 12.3 km Fifth Stage, where 4th-year Sota Ueda wrapped his college career by breaking his own stage record with a new mark of 35:18 to put KGU into the lead. That's where they stayed for the rest of the race, winning in 4:16:01. The battle for 2nd was intense over the 11.7 km anchor stage. Kyoto Sangyo University overtook Kansai for 2nd, but...

The sheer gravitational pull of the Hakone Ekiden drags most of the top high school boys' distance talent to the Tokyo-centric Kanto Region for university. But for those on the Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe Kansai Region axis, Saturday's Tango University Ekiden was the peak of the season. In the race's 83rd edition, Kyoto's Ritsumeikan University  men overcame a mid-race challenge from Kwansei Gakuin University  to score a fourth-straight Tango win. Ritsumeikan first-year Hayato Omori  got the team out of the gate well with a 27:33 to lead the 9.0 km First Stage. Ritsumeikan's next three runners held the lead, but a course record 35:31 on the 12.3 km Fifth Stage from Kwansei Gakuin's Sota Ueda  dropped Ritsumeikan to 2nd. Kazuki Moriya  extended Kwansei Gakuin's lead from 6 seconds to 1:04, but when KGU's seventh runner Yoshinobu Imai  struggled Ritsumeikan's Maki Yamada  was three to pick up the lead with a new stage record of 38:32 for 13.3 km. Anchor Ryota T...

Qualifying action for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships continued Sunday with the combined Chubu and Hokuriku regional ekidens . Running both an A and a B team with only the A team having a chance of going on to race on New Year's Day, Toyota destroyed the field as it took 1st and 3rd overall. After a slow start the A-team's Chihiro Miyawaki broke the course record on the 11.5 km Third Stage, covering it in 32:55 to move into the lead. Toyota A-team runners won the last three of the race's seven stages, winning by more than three minutes over closest competition Aisan Kogyo as they broke the overall course record with a new mark of 4:05:35 for the 83.5 km event. Toyota's B-team finished just 16 seconds behind Aisan Kogyo, showing just how much of a stranglehold Toyota has on the Chubu Region. YKK was the top team from the tiny Hokuriku Region, finishing 9th overall in 4:13:34 but moving on to the New Year Ekiden. In Kyoto, ...

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/1721654.html translated by Brett Larner The organizers of the  Izumo Ekiden announced today that Kwansei Gakuin University has withdrawn from the event's 28th running on Oct. 10.  The Izumo Ekiden is one of the Big Three University Ekidens.  Organizers received notification of Kwansei Gakuin's withdrawal on Oct. 8 after a 21-year-old fourth-year Kwansei team member was arrested by Kyoto police on Oct. 7 on suspicion of entering a house and stealing money. Translator's note: The Kansai Region's Kwansei Gakuin University was ranked 13th in the Izumo field of 21 teams.

by Brett Larner As the world's best university distance runners start their buildup to the main event of their year, the Kanto Region's Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden, and the U.S.A.'s NCAA holds its national cross country championships, their counterparts further west ran their season-ender Saturday at the 76th Kansai Region University Men's Ekiden Championships . On a new course in Tango, Kyoto last year Kyoto Sangyo University beat crosstown rival Ritsumeikan University in a photo finish, both schools clocking 4:10:50 for the 8-stage, 81.2 km distance.  This year both were back up front on a slightly longer 81.4 km version of the Tango course, but instead of a two-school show both got a serious challenge from last year's 4th-placer Kwansei Gakuin University . KSU started in 2nd with Ritsumeikan and KGU further back as most other schools put their best runners on the First Stage.  After a stage win by second man Yohei Koyama KGU was up to 2nd, and by the end of t...