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Showing posts with the label Soichiro Nishio

Aoyama Gakuin Runners Top Kanagawa Half Marathon

by Brett Larner

Strong winds battered the university runners at the head of the 32nd Kanagawa Half Marathon Feb. 7 in Yokohama. A lead pack of five made up of runners from Komazawa, Meiji, Aoyama Gakuin and Senshu universities stayed together through the early stages of the race, but when Aoyama Gakuin's Yasumasa Ogawa attacked the pack quickly strung out. Ogawa, who ran the downhill Sixth Stage at last month's Hakone Ekiden, took over two minutes off his PB to win in 1:04:51. His teammate Shungo Kawamura likewise knocked his PB down by more than two minutes, 4th in 1:05:05, while Aoyama Gakuin first-year Takuya Yokoyama rounded out the top 5 with yet another PB of 1:05:08. The trio's performance continued Aoyama Gakuin's momentum from making the seeded top 10 at Hakone for the first time in over 30 years. All three runners will return next year. Finishing 2nd in 1:05:00 was Meiji University first-year Katsuhiro Tanaka in his half marathon debut.

2010 Kanagawa Half Mara…

Ugachi Leads Komazawa to Fuchu Tamagawa Half Marathon Sweep

by Brett Larner

Komazawa University's Tsuyoshi Ugachi led the school's team to a near sweep of the 2008 Fuchu Tamagawa Half Marathon on Nov. 23, winning with a time of 1:04:08 and a margin of 50 seconds over teammate Yusuke Takabayashi. Running in perfect conditions, Komazawa runners, who typically dominate the race held near the university's training grounds, took the top 3 positions and 7 of the top 10 places. Kenyan Daniel Mwangi (Team JAL Ground Service) provided the only serious challenge to the national champion and defending Hakone Ekiden champion Komazawa runners, 4th in 1:06:02 after just outleaning Komazawa's Yukinori Ota and Toru Takahashi. Aoyama Gakuin University ekiden team members Soichiro Nishio and Keisuke Ichioka, preparing for their school's first Hakone appearance in 33 years, were 7th and 10th respectively. Nishio and Ichioka will next meet up with Ugachi and the rest of the Komazawa squad on Jan. 2 and 3 in the 2009 Hakone Ekiden.

2008 Fuchu Tam…