japan running news

by Brett Larner
熊日30キロ優勝は設楽啓太くんでした！ pic.twitter.com/u4ZG27xFjf — つきこ (@t_tsuki) February 21, 2016Former national university record holder Keita Shitara (Team Konica Minolta) returned to Japan's biggest 30 km, the Kumanichi Road Race, for the first time in three years to pick up the win in Kumanichi's 60th edition.  A graduate of 2014 Hakone Ekiden winner Toyo University, Shitara took the race in hand from the start, leading through 5 km in 14:38 just 2 seconds off the pace for the 1:28:52 course record set in 2014 by Toyo's Yuma Hattori.  Early company included Shitara's Konica Minolta teammate Masato Kikuchi, Toyo grad Kento Otsu (Team Toyota Kyushu) and current Toyo students Ryo Kuchimachi and Shun Sakuraoka.  Over the next 10 km the pack whittled down to just Shitara and Sakuraoka, 20 seconds off CR pace at 15 km in 44:15 with Otsu another 20 seconds back.

Around 21 km Shitara got a few strides on Sakuraoka, who began to fade rapidly and was overtaken by Otsu and ot…

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/sapporo-news/20150628/5792931.html

translated by Brett Larner

Now in its 25th year, 4500 runners from across the country ran Hokkaido's Hakodate Half Marathon on June 28, coming for the seaside course and staying for the legendary hot spring resorts.  A fall race up to now, this year the Hakodate Half saw its entry numbers swell by 1000 this year with a move to a June race date. 

The race began at 8:00 sharp with the firing of a gun at Chiyogadai Field in Hakodate.  A light rain left runners shivering before the start, but things warmed up over the 21 km seaside course with enthusiastic cheering from roadside spectators.  One participant, a firefighter from Tokyo, commented, "This was both a race for me and a vacation for my family.  I really enjoyed the scenery along the course while I ran."

Kenyan Mitchell Gizae (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) won the men's race in 1:02:29, while Asami Kato (Team Panasonic) was the women's winner in 1:12:21.

25th Hako…