japan running news

by Brett Larner

Ekiden season got off to an early start with the 66th running of Akita's Towada Hachimantai Ekiden on Aug. 7.  The Honda corporate team, less Moscow World Championships marathoner Masakazu Fujiwara and other A-list members, outran rival Yakult for the win after a slow start.  The Yakult A team led for the first three of the day's five stages thanks in part to a superb stage record of 36:12 on the 13.4 km Second Stage by new Kenyan ace Bernard Kimani, while Honda fell as low as 4th.  On the 16.4 km Fourth Stage new Honda recruit Wataru Ueno, a graduate of Komazawa University and Sendai Ikuei H.S., had a strong corporate ekiden debut as he made up the 30-second gap to leader Yutaro Fukushi of Yakult before opening a lead of nearly two minutes.

With Fukushi having fallen to 3rd behind Komori Corporation, Yakult anchor Soji Ikeda, another Komazawa alum, did his best to run down Honda's Hayato Saito on the tough uphill Fifth Stage, but although he overtook Komo…

by Brett Larner

Click photo for full-sized version.

The women's and men's half marathon kicked off the biggest day of long distance action at the 2009 World University Games, and the Japanese women did what they do best. Josai University's Chisato Saito led Kikuyo Tsuzaki and Sayo Nomura of Meijo University to a Japanese sweep of the women's half marathon. The relatively easy pace played into the hands of Tsuzaki and Nomura, the only runners in the field with PB marks under 72 minutes, but for Saito the win required an A-level effort as she ran just 3 seconds off her PB in 1:13:44. "I didn't expect to win at all, so more than happy I'm just surprised," Saito told reporters after the race.

Tsuzaki finished 19 seconds back in 2nd, with Nomura taking 3rd by a margin of 23 seconds over 4th placer Jong-Hyang Kim of North Korea who was more than a minute off the winning time. Asian runners took 9 of the top 11 positions.

The men's race was a more balanced c…

by Brett Larner

As the Japanese academic year comes to a close this month, many of this year's talented group of graduating university seniors prepare to enter the corporate team world of jitsugyodan running while others bid goodbye to their days of serious running. Below is a listing of some of the best runners in this year's graduating class and their destinations next month.

Tsuguya Asahi (Waseda Univ.) - Team Kyudenko
Soji Ikeda (Komazawa Univ.) - Team Yakult
Kenta Kawasaki (Kokushikan Univ.) - Team Suzuki
Yuki Kawauchi (Gakushuin Univ.) - Saitama Prefectural Government
Masato Kihara (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - Team Kanebo
Mekubo Mogusu (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - Team Aidem
Kazuki Onishi (Toyo Univ.) - Team Kanebo
Tomoya Onishi (Toyo Univ.) - Team Asahi Kasei
Hiroyuki Ono (Juntendo Univ.) - Team Nissin Shokuhin
Yukinori Ota (Komazawa Univ.) - Team Mazda
Takuma Sasaya (Nihon Univ.) - Team JR Higashi Nihon
Yuki Sato (Tokai Univ.) - Team Nissin Shokuhin / Tokai Graduate School
Tsuyoshi Takeda (J…

by Brett Larner with athlete quotes from Komazawa Univ. website


Click picture for more race photos by Narachan. Additional photos are available here.

The 12th National University Half Marathon took place on Mar. 8 in western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park in conjunction with the 28th Tachikawa Akishima Half Marathon. The race served as both the first qualifier for the men's half marathon team for July's World Student Games in Serbia and the final race for graduating seniors.

Daiichi Kogyo University's Kiragu Njuguna led a large pack of top university runners and a few professionals, gradually edging away to take the win in 1:02:24 with a slim 17 second lead over runner-up Soji Ikeda of Komazawa University. Ikeda, who was captain of this year's ekiden team, commented, "I'm really happy that I ran a good race today. Looking back on the last four years, as captain I didn't want to end with something as bad as this year's Hakone Ekiden. I'm glad it could en…

http://www.47news.jp/CN/200812/CN2008121001000909.html
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20081210-00000147-jij-spo

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Dec. 10 the Hakone Ekiden released the 16-member entry lists for each of the 23 schools running next year's 85th edition to be held Jan. 2-3. The organizers released the information in junction with a panel discussion in Ebisu, Tokyo, featuring top teams' coaches.

Defending champion Komazawa Univ. is fielding a lineup featuring all of its big guns, including captain Soji Ikeda and aces Takuya Fukatsu and Tsuyoshi Ugachi. Komazawa head coach Hiroaki Oyagi confidently proclaimed, "We are in excellent condition. We'll be looking at the top 3 but running to win."

2008 runner-up Waseda Univ. has included Beijing 5000 m and 10000 m Olympian Kensuke Takezawa on its roster, but in view of his ongoing injury problems, most recently damage to his right Achilles tendon, it won't be known until race day whether he will sta…

by Brett Larner


The 2008-2009 university ekiden season officially got underway on Oct. 13 with the 20th anniversary edition of the Izumo Ekiden. Twenty-two teams competed over the six stage, 44 km course, including the top teams from the Kanto regional championship Hakone Ekiden, strong schools from other regions of Japan, and a select team of ace runners from the American Ivy League. Tokai Unversity had won the previous three years at Izumo on the strength of its two stars Hideaki Date and Yuki Sato, but with the loss of Date to graduation Tokai faced a tough challenge in its quest for a first-ever fourth straight title from 2008 Hakone Ekiden winners Komazawa University. Komazawa’s runners have traditionally relied on sheer strength over speed to make it the top running school in Japan, but this year Komazawa comes to ekiden season with six runners under 14 minutes for 5000 m for the first time in its history. Waseda University, with 5000 and 10000 m Olympian Kensuke Takezawa and a s…

http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/article.php?mid=P2008030900093&genre=L1&area=K10

translated by Brett Larner

Komazawa University's Soji Ikeda won the 15th Kyoto City Half Marathon on Mar. 9, starting in front of Kyoto's Heianjingu and breaking the tape on the 21.0975 km course in 1:02:10. Aki Fujikawa of Team Shiseido won the women's race in a time of 1:10:41.

Together with Kazuo Ietani (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko), Ikeda broke away from the lead pack of six runners at the 15 km point but could not drop Ietani until the last km, winning by 8 seconds. Kyoto residents Tsukasa Morita (Team Sanyo Tokusho Seiko, Kyoto Sangyo University) and Takahiko Onishi (Kyoto Sangyo University) were 4th and 8th respectively.

Fujikawa had a more commanding win in the women's race, running alone after the halfway point. She was 24 seconds ahead of 2nd place finisher Yui Sakai (Josai University), while last year's winner Ryoko Kisaki (Bukkyo University) was 3rd. Hiroaki Nishihara (Minam…

http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/article.php?mid=P2008022000192&genre=L1&area=K10

translated by Brett Larner

On Feb. 20 the elite field for the 15th Kyoto City Half Marathon on Mar. 9 was announced. Headlining the men's field is former full marathon national record holder Atsushi Fujita (Team Fujitsu), while last year's winner Ryoko Kisaki (Bukkyo University) is back to defend her title in the women's race. Facing Fujita will be Helsinki World Championships men's marathon competitor and Kyoto Sangyo University graduate Michitaka Hosokawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) and top Japanese finisher at the 2006 World Road Running Championships Kazuo Ietani (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko).

Also entered in the men's race are a number of Hakone Ekiden star runners including Soji Ikeda (Komazawa University, 2008 Hakone winners) who was 2nd on the 1st stage, East Japan Intercollegiate 10,000 m 2nd place finisher Hiroyuki Ono (Juntendo Univesity), Hakone Ekiden 3rd place finisher Chuo Gakuin …