Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label New Year Ekiden

Nissin Shokuhin to Eliminate All Athletes Except Sato and Murasawa

Two-time New Year Ekiden national champion Nissin Shokuhin Group announced on Jan. 10 that it is making major cuts to its men's ekiden team. With the exception of MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials qualifiers Akinobu Murasawa, 27, and Yuki Sato, 32, it will eliminate its other twelve athletes from the team. It has also canceled contracts with two graduating university fourth-years who were scheduled to join the team in April following their graduation.

The Nissin Shokuhin Group team has been one of the leaders of Japanese long distance, home to top class athletes including current marathon national record holder Suguru Osako, 27. The change in its policies comes suddenly. According to a person involved in the situation, of the team's fourteen members the twelve other than Murasawa and Sato have been asked to leave the team. Those who wish to continue their athletic careers will receive support in transferring to another team, while those who wish to retire will have the op…
3 comments
Read more

MHPS Just Misses Stopping an Asahi Kasei New Year Ekiden Threepeat

In a 100 km race that came down to a sprint finish over the last 100 m the ascendant Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems team came up just short of stopping old-school powerhouse Asahi Kasei from scoring a third-straight New Year Ekiden corporate men's national title.

Unremarkable over the first two stages, it took a Third Stage win by Tetsuya Yoroizaka with pressure from the superb 32-year-old Ryosuke Maki (Subaru) to put Asahi Kasei in range of the front. But on the day's longest stage, the 22.4 km Fourth Stage, MHPS' Jakarta Asian Games marathon gold medalist Hiroto Inoue had other ideas. Running with incredible smoothness and poise Inoue ran down some of 2018's best Japanese marathoners including Berlin 4th-placer Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) and Chicago 2:07:57 man Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) to go 35 seconds out front, 16 seconds faster than he ran last year before his 2:06:54 in Tokyo but still 18 seconds off Yuta Shitara's course record.

With Fukuoka winner Yuma Hatto…
1 comment
Read more

Championship Ekiden Season is Here - Preview of the New Year's Biggest Races

For decades the New Year in Japan has been the best three days of racing n the year, with the New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships on Jan. 1 and the university men's season-capping Hakone Ekiden on Jan. 2 and 3. In the last few years it's gotten even better thanks to the Mount Fuji Women's Ekiden, the university women's season ender, moving to Dec. 30.

Last year Ritsumeikan University overcame a loss to Meijo University at October's Morinomiyako Ekiden to claim a fifth-straight Mount Fuji national title. This year the top three at Morinomiyako were the same as last time around, Meijo in the top spot and Daito Bunka University just edging out Ritsumeikan for 3rd with Tokyo Nogyo University, 2nd at Mount Fuji last year, just a few seconds behind Ritsumeikan in 4th. With all four teams returning we're pretty likely to see them all out front again, the main question being whether Meijo can translate its early-season success into a national ti…
Post a Comment
Read more

National Corporate Federation Under Investigation for Violation of Antitrust Law in Restriction on Athletes Changing Teams

On Dec. 20 it was learned that the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has launched an investigation into the Japan Industrial Track and Field Association (JITA), organizers of the New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships and other major events, for possible violation of antitrust law in its policy of indefinitely barring athletes whose original team do not consent to grant them release.
Under the JITA policy, a team may issue a departing athlete a certificate of amicable release designating the athlete as eligible for transfer. Athletes with this designation may sign with another team, but without it they cannot register with another team and are not allowed to compete in events organized by the JITA. Its policy also stipulates that athletes who try to transfer without having a certificate of amicable release may be subject to having their personal JITA registration deleted and being suspended from competing.
The JFTC believes that these restrictions may violate the…
Post a Comment
Read more

Seko-Led DeNA Corporate Team Gives Up on Ekidens After Just Five Seasons

Coached by JAAF Long Distance and Marathon Development Project team leader Toshihiko Seko, 62, the DeNA men's corporate team announced on Sept. 28 that it will no longer run ekidens. Last year it placed 3rd at the East Japan Corporate Ekiden, qualifying for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national championships where it placed a competitive 6th. However, this year it did not submit an entry for the Nov. 3 East Japan race, meaning it will not run the New Year Ekiden either. An official statement is expected to be released early next week.

The DeNA team was founded in 2013. Including Seko, the majority of its staff and athletes came from the historic S&B corporate team following its dissolution. Prior to its termination S&B also stopped running ekidens. Led by 2012 London Olympics 10000 m 5th-placer Bedan Karoki of Kenya, the current team members will focus on their individual pursuits on the track and in the marathon in the coming seasons.

The DeNA news followed shortly after a…
1 comment
Read more

Ikuto Yufu Announces Retirement

Ikuto Yufu was one of the stars of Komazawa University's strongest lineup ever, helping lead the team to top 3 finishes in 11 of the 12 Big Three University Ekidens he ran his 4 years at Komazawa including 3-straight National University Ekiden Championships titles from 2011 to 2013 and overall course records at both Nationals and the Izumo Ekiden. He was undefeated on the Nationals Third Stage, winning it all 4 years and breaking its stage record twice. He showed exceptional range outside the ekiden, winning the National University Track and Field Championships 1500 m title in 2013 and setting Komazawa records for 1500 m, 5000 m, and 10000 m. In his final university race JRN took Yufu to the 2014 NYC Half, where he outkicked the great Meb Keflezighi to finish 9th in 1:02:51.

After graduating in 2014 he joined the Fujitsu corporate team but immediately began to have Achilles tendon trouble. His first two corporate league seasons were mostly a wash, one brief bright spot coming in ea…
Post a Comment
Read more

Marathon National Record Holder Yuta Shitara Scores a Sweet Ride - "We're Going to Create a Legend Together"

At a ceremony in Sayama, Saitama on June 22, men's marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara, 26, was awarded a Legend luxury sedan by his corporate team sponsor Honda. Shitara was praised for cracking the national record with a 2:06:11 at February's Tokyo Marathon. "I didn't think I'd score a car out of it," he smiled. "I'm really happy to get it. I want to hit the road in it somewhere with my teammates."

The basic model of the car Shitara was awarded costs 7,000,000 yen [~$64,000 USD], but what he actually received came loaded with optional features. He was allowed to choose any model of Honda car he wanted, but it was the model's name, "Legend," that caught his attention. "I want to accomplish legendary things in the marathon," he commented. "The Legend and I are in to together for the long haul, and together we're going to create a legend."

【納車記念式典】#マラソン#日本記録 を樹立した #設楽悠太 選手に
所属会社 #Honda より「#LEGEND」が贈呈…
Post a Comment
Read more

JFE Steel Team Announces Kunimitsu Ito as New Head Coach

On Jan. 23 the JFE Steel men's corporate team announced the hiring of former Kanebo head coach Kumimitsu Ito, 63, as its new head coach effective Feb. 1. During his days as an athlete Ito was named to the 1980 Moscow Olympic team prior to Japan's boycott of the Games. At the 1986 Beijing Marathon he ran 2:07:57 for 2nd, breaking the then-national record along with winner Taisuke Kodama. As a coach he led Toshinari Takaoka to set the current Japanese national record of 2:06:16 in the marathon. Takaoka later succeeded him as head coach at Kanebo.

JFE Steel's roster features 12 athletes including Kenyan Charles Ndirangu, a graduate of Sera H.S., and Yudai Okamoto, an Okayama Kogyo H.S. and  Chuo Gakuin University graduate. This season the team failed to qualify for the New Year Ekiden national championships for the first time in 42 years. Hired as head coach in 2014, Takashi Matsuyama, 44, will step down from his position on Jan. 31.

source article:http://www.sanyonews.jp/art…
1 comment
Read more

Asahi Kasei Defends New Year Ekiden National Title

With the addition of Kenyan Abraham Kipyatich making them almost unbeatable, 2017 national champions Asahi Kasei defended their title in the first major race of 2018, the New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships.

遠藤日向区間賞！！！！
34分55！！！#ニューイヤー駅伝#遠藤日向pic.twitter.com/JkN3m15bly — わたる (@wYCzgTTlEB00gsB) January 1, 2018
1:00:54 half marathoner Keijiro Mogi led Asahi Kasei off, doing much of the work up front on the first of the day's seven stages but losing out to 19-year-old rookie Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) and a handful of others in the last sprint to the first exchange. Kapyatich was quick to make up the 10-second deficit he inherited, going straight to the front on the Second Stage and opening a 6-second lead. Farther back, Bedan Karoki (DeNA) passed 18 people, most of them fellow Kenyans, to win the  8.3 km stage in 22:25 just four weeks after running the Fukuoka International Marathon.

The winner on the New Year Ekiden's longest stage last year, Asahi Kasei…
1 comment
Read more

Four Days of Championship Ekidens Ahead - Mt. Fuji, New Year and Hakone Previews

The 100th anniversary year of the ekiden as a race format wraps up Saturday at the Mount Fuji Women's Ekiden, the season-ending national championships for university women. Run on a scenic but tough course in the foothills of Mt. Fuji, it has been dominated for the last four years by ten-time national champion Ritsumeikan University. Last year Ritsumeikan was beaten by Matsuyama University at October's Morinomiyako Ekiden but returned to win a fourth-straight national title. This year it fell to 3rd at Morinomiyako, with last year's Mount Fuji runner-up Meijo University and #1 Kanto Region program Daito Bunka University taking the top two spots. All four schools will square off again at Mount Fuji this year, with Morinomiyako 4th-placer Osaka Gakuin University and Nikko Irohazaka Women's Ekiden winner Osaka Geijutsu University in the mix. The Mount Fuji Women's Ekiden will be broadcast live on Fuji TV starting at 10:00 a.m. local time on Dec. 30.



The ekiden's …
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitsubishi Overpowers National Champions Asahi Kasei at Kyushu Corporate Men's Ekiden

【#九州実業団毎日駅伝】
スタートしました。 pic.twitter.com/p1rKSJ3Rjq — 九州実業団陸上競技連盟 (@krikujo1) November 23, 2017
For the second year in a row, the Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems corporate team edged defending national champion Asahi Kasei to win the 54th Kyushu Corporate Men's Ekiden Championships, the final qualifying race for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national championships.

Fresh out of the blocks, London World Championships marathon team member Hiroto Inoue got Mitsubishi off to a good start with a win by 8 seconds over 2016 national XC champion Takashi Ichida of Asahi Kasei on the 12.4 km First Stage. Mitsubishi increased its lead over Asahi Kasei to 1:54 by the end of the Fourth Stage thanks to stage wins from 2nd and 4th men Enock Omwamba and Ryota Matono.

Over the second half Asahi Kasei fought back with its 5th and 6th runners Shuho Dairokuno and Takuya Fukatsu winning their stages, Fukatsu breaking the Sixth Stage record by 11 seconds to put Asahi Kasei into the lead by 4 seconds at th…
Post a Comment
Read more

Toyota and Tanaka Drop New Course Records - Ekiden Weekend Roundup

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, Kwansei Ga…
Post a Comment
Read more

New Year Ekiden Fourth and Sixth Stages Changed After Course Found Slightly Short

Around 80 representatives of the National Corporate Track and Field Association, Gunma Prefectural Government and related media organizations met Nov. 15 at the prefectural government offices to discuss course changes and upcoming promotional efforts for the 62nd running of the New Year Ekiden national corporate men's championships on Jan. 1. It was confirmed that two of the ekiden's seven stages, the Fourth Stage and Sixth Stage, will be changed for this season's race.

The New Year Ekiden has been run on a 100 km course since 2001, but it was recently found that its actual distance was slightly insufficient. The course changes are intended to increase the distance to make up for the overall shortfall as well as to improve the course's runnability. The Fourth Stage has traditionally headed east from the Shiyakusho-mae intersection in Imaizumi-cho in Isesaki, but its new course will instead send it south along Route 354 for a increase in length from 22.0 to 22.4 km. Th…
Post a Comment
Read more

Shitaraless Honda Wins East Japan Corporate Ekiden

Qualification for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships got underway on the Nov. 3 holiday in Japan's most competitive region, East Japan, with the 58th East Japan Corporate Men's Ekiden Championships. Running without half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara, 2015 winner Honda returned to the top with an exciting anchor stage win in 3:47:55 for the 7-stage, 77.5 km course.

The Hitachi Butsuryu team's leading man Yuki Muta got them off to a good start on the opening stage, but a 1-2 punch from DeNA's Kenta Murozuka and Bedan Karoki put DeNA 20 seconds ahead of the early leaders. 7th on the First Stage, Honda worked its way up to 3rd by the end of the Third Stage just a second behind Hitachi Butsuryu.

Honda moved into 2nd on the next stage, but its gap to leader DeNA stayed steady at 21 seconds. Fujitsu passed Hitachi Butsuryu for 3rd thanks to a stage win from Ken Yokote, and a new stage record of 22:52 for the 7.8 km Fifth Stag…
Post a Comment
Read more

'RunCzech Racing Athlete Abraham Kipyatich to Continue His Running Career in Japan'

a RunCzech press release

Abraham Kipyatich, one of the strongest performers on the RunCzech Racing team, is to spend the remainder of the year in Japan, competing for the Asahi Kasei Athletics Team. After a number of fine and stable performances last year, and a victory in the Birell Prague Grand Prix 2016, as a culmination of the fine season Abraham had.

The Asahi Kasei Athletics Team was founded in 1946 and is based in Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture. The team is known for its great history, especially for producing Olympians (marathon), national record holders and other legends of our sport. In 2017, Asahi Kasei became first team in an 18-year period to win the New Year Ekiden National Corporate Men's Road Relay Championships with an all-Japanese lineup.

Kipyatich is the first non-Japanese runner in the team and only one out of two non-Japanese runners team has in its line-up for 2017 season. Kipyatich already had successful experience in Japan this year - he managed solid fourth p…
Post a Comment
Read more

National Champion Asahi Kasei Team Welcomes its First-Ever Kenyan Members

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20170515-00000124-sph-spo

translated by Brett Larner

今日から新しいチームメイトが旭化成に加わりました！！
共に世界を目指して頑張ります。
応援よろしくお願いします。#ケニア
#🇰🇪#左#アブラハム#右#ケネスhttps://t.co/OSMR3UynMNpic.twitter.com/UiuIcQTFUK — 市田 孝 (@TAKA_supra) May 15, 2017
On May 15 ekiden and marathon powerhouse Asahi Kasei welcomed its first-ever foreign-born team members, Kenyans Kenneth Kiprop Kipkemoi, 32, and Abraham Kapsis Kipyatich, 24, to the team's base in Nobeoka, Miyazaki. The highly accomplished Kipkemoi holds a 10000 m best of 26:52.65 far superior to the 27:29.69 Japanese national record held by Asahi Kasei's Kota Murayama, 24, and his 5000 m and half marathon bests of 13:03.07 and 59:01 are likewise better than the Japanese national records. By comparison, Kipyatich is still young with room to grow further in the future.

Regarding the reinforcement of the team's strength, an Asahi Kasei spokesperson commented, "The mission of our athletics program is to produce athletes who …
Post a Comment
Read more

Oita Fire Department on Trying to Become First FD Team to Make the New Year Ekiden: "This is Our Big Chance"

http://www.oita-press.co.jp/1010000000/2017/04/11/JD0055648052

translated by Brett Larner

The Oita Fire Department ekiden team is targeting the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships.  Thanks to the Miyazaki-based Asahi Kasei team's win at the 2017 New Year Ekiden, the number of spots available at the 2018 race to Kyushu region teams will increase by one to eight teams.  "This is our big chance," said OFD head coach Masakazu Mishiro, 40.  Police Department and Self-Defense Force teams have made the New Year Ekiden in the past, but to date no Fire Department team has ever qualified.

To make it to the biggest stage in Japan it's a constant struggle to balance a busy work schedule and training.  The OFD team has around 20 members, half of them full-on serious runners who competed in university, and with the addition of three new members at the start of the fiscal year in April its strength has only grown.  Forming the team's core are star …
Post a Comment
Read more

National Champion Asahi Kasei Team Recruits Kenyans for First Time

http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20170408-OHT1T50191.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

A long distance and marathon powerhouse, the 2017 New Year Ekiden national champion Asahi Kasei team has recruited Kenyan athletes for the first time. Surpassing even the 10000 m national record of 27:29.69 set by Asahi Kasei's Kota Murayama, 24, the pair of Kenyans includes a 32-year-old veteran who has run sub-27 and a young 23-year-old.  With experience coaching Kenyans at the Aisan Kogyo corporate team through the end of March, Isamu Sennai has also joined the Asahi Kasei staff in preparation for the Kenyans' arrival.

At this year's New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships, 30 of the 37 teams in the field featured foreign athletes.  In the midst of such a field, Asahi Kasei scored the first win by a Japanese-only team in 18 years.  Founded in 1946, Asahi Kasei produced greats including twins Shigeru and Takeshi Soh, 1991 World Championships marathon gold m…
1 comment
Read more

'Jepchirchir Breaks World Half Marathon Record In Ras Al-Khaimah'

https://www.iaaf.org/news/report/jepchirchir-breaks-world-half-marathon-record

The Ras Al-Khaimah Half was the fifth-straight win for Tokyo-based Bedan Karoki (DeNA RC), having won two track races in 24 hours at November's Nittai University Time Trials meet, the first a 10000 m in 27:07.30, a brilliant win in the most competitive January race in the world, the New Year Ekiden's 8.3 km Second Stage, and a tune-up for RAK with a win at the 10 km Discovery Cross meet in Kenya late last month.  Karoki is set to debut at April's London Marathon after a DNS there last year.

photo © 2017 Dr. Helmut Winter
all rights reserved
Post a Comment
Read more

Asahi Kasei Wins First New Year Ekiden National Title in 18 Years

by Brett Larner
photos by @rikujolove

Living up to the promise of its 2015 recruiting coup after a disappointing performance last year, the Asahi Kasei team won its first New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships title in 18 years on the strength of its double set of twins.

ニューイヤー駅伝　優勝　旭化成
１区　村山紘太
２区　鎧坂哲哉
３区　大六野秀畝
４区　市田孝 pic.twitter.com/GGSNHGVsO3 — M.Kawaguchi (@rikujolove) January 1, 2017
Fresh from running 2016's fastest Japanese 10000 m, 10000 m national record holder Kota Murayama led off for Asahi Kasei but unexpectedly proved to be its weakest link, finishing 13th of 37 on the 12.3 km First Stage, 11 seconds back from leader Masaki Toda (Nissin Shokuhin).  Defending champ Toyota also struggled to get off on the right foot, lead runner Taku Fujimoto only 10th.

One of only 7 teams in the field without an African on board to boost its chances, Asahi Kasei fielded Tetsuya Yoroizaka, all-time Japanese #2 for 5000 m and 10000 m, on the 8.3 km Second Stage.  Facing…
Post a Comment
Read more