japan running news

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/news/20100228-OYT1T00591.htm translated by Brett Larner complete results will be added when available 8674 people from 34 prefectures ran the 32nd Inuyama Half Marathon on Feb. 28. In the men's race Yoshinori Sugimoto (26, Team Aichi Seiko) beat out the tough field of university runners to take his first win in 1:04:07. Hiromitsu Kakuage (19, Komazawa Univ.) was the top university runner, 2nd in 1:04:14. In 3rd was two-time defending Hakone Ekiden winner Toyo University member Shogo Otsu (21). Yukina Saijo (Team Sekisui Kagaku) took her first win in the women's half marathon, running 1:13:06.

by Brett Larner The Tokyo Marathon may be the biggest race happening in Japan on Feb. 28, but three other elite races also fall the same day. The most major of these is the Kumanichi 30 km Road Race in Kumamoto, Kyushu. The world's most competitive race at this distance, Kumanichi was until the last fall the site of the men's 30 km world record. In the field for this year's race are former marathon national record holder Atsushi Fujita (Team Fujitsu), steeplechase national record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu (Team Fujitsu), 2009 Ome 30 km winner Hirokatsu Kurosaki (Team Konica Minolta), Komazawa University ace Tsuyoshi Ugachi and New Year Ekiden winner Team Nissin Shokuhin member Bene Zama . The elite women's field is limited to three and is led by Chiharu Matsuo (Team Kyudenko). Further north in Aichi, the Inuyama Half Marathon has an interesting matchup between pro and university runners. Three members of 2009 and 2010 Hakone Ekiden winner Toyo University'...

by Brett Larner Click here for a video digest of Day Two and individual stage highlights. Toyo University celebrates its first-ever Hakone Ekiden win. Click photo for additional pictures courtesy of Sanspo.com. On Day Two of the 2009 Hakone Ekiden Toyo University defied the odds, hanging on to its slim lead over pre-race favorite Waseda University to come up victorious for the first time in the school’s 67 Hakone appearances. Riding on the momentum of Toyo’s first day victory, the team’s 6th, 7th and 8th stage runners ran impeccably, dueling with Day One runner-up Waseda at every turn before 9th leg runner Shogo Otsu dealt Waseda’s hopes of its first win in sixteen years a death blow with a tactical masterstroke. Waseda anchor Itaru Sando tried his best to close the gap Otsu opened but could get no closer than 41 seconds, leaving Waseda in 2nd place once again. Toyo’s time of 5:35:50 for the 109.9 km Day Two course was also the fastest in the field, giving it a rare triple crown with...

by Brett Larner Less than a week after a brilliant run in the Izumo Ekiden, Toyo University senior Tomoya Onishi barely missed becoming the second university student to break the hour mark on the Takashimadaira Road Race's 20 km course, winning his second straight Takashimadaira title in 1:00:05. Takashimadaira serves as an early-season tuneup for Tokyo-area universities, with three or four schools sending a mix of ace runners wanting a controlled time trial effort on the roads and B-squad members who did not run in either the previous week's Izumo Ekiden or the previous day's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai [Qualifying] 20 km but still have a chance of making the final team for Hakone. Toyo fielded a full squad including half its team from the Oct. 13 Izumo Ekiden, but gave star first-year Ryuji Kashiwabara and Izumo team members Hiroyuki Uno and Masaya Mori a rest. Izumo Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University sent a smaller group, none of whom had run Izumo. Kanagawa University and ...