japan running news

by Brett Larner

Ritzenhein and Shitara in NYC. Photo by Brett Larner.

On a quiet weekend between the end of Japan's road season and the start of track season, three minor road races saw noteworthy results from university runners across the country.  Just two weeks after outkicking 2009 World Half Marathon Championships bronze medalist Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) to run a 1:01:48 PB at the NYC Half Marathon, Yuta Shitara (Toyo Univ.) marked the first day of his junior year by beating popular marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) by 44 seconds at the Satta Sakura 10-Miler in Saitama.

 Aoyama Gakuin University's Naohisa Matsuda likewise had a big win at the Nihondaira Sakura Road Race, setting a new record of 1:12:22 for the tough 23 km course featuring a nearly 300 m uphill. At the Saga Sakura Half Marathon, Fukuoka University's Takuro Nakanishi, a former member of the pro Team JR Higashi Nihon, won easily in 1:04:19. Superb amateur Hiroko Yoshitomi (First Dream AC) won …

by Brett Larner

University men's distance running has been full of surprises this year. The latest came on Oct. 24 at the Takashimadaira 20 km Road Race in Tokyo's northwestern suburb of Takashimadaira as unheralded Aoyama Gakuin University sophomore Takehiro Deki tied the 58:51 course record set four years ago by former Tokai University ace Hideaki Date as a junior. Deki, aged 20, had no previous results on record to suggest a run of this caliber, equivalent to a 13:26 using the McMillan Running Calculator. His personal bests prior to this performance were 14:01.50 for 5000 m, 29:49.57 for 10000 m, 1:01:58 for 20 km and 1:06:22 for half marathon.

Deki ran a completely solo race, winning by exactly 1 1/2 minutes over Masuo Nishiyama of two-time Hakone Ekiden champions Toyo University. While Deki was the only man to break the hour mark, overall results were the deepest in Takashimadaira history with 14 men under 61 minutes and 37 under 1:02:30. The only non-university runner to b…