japan running news

January's Hakone Ekiden has a big impact on the shape of the fall season for Japanese collegiate men. The top 10 teams at Hakone run this past Monday's Izumo Ekiden , where 6 runners per team run an average of 7.5 km. 11th-place and lower run Saturday's Yosenkai, the half marathon used to fill the 10 remaining slots in the Hakone field and the lineup of the select team made up of top-placing individuals from universities that don't qualify as a team. The 42 teams at the Yosenkai can run up to 12 people, with the times of their first 10 finishers adding up to a team score and the 10 fastest teams going on to the big show. At Izumo a lot of the top teams were down on track times this season . At the Yosenkai it's really noticeable how much the level has come up. In 2023 only 2 teams, Daito Bunka University and Tokyo Kokusai University , had a 10-runner 10000 m average under 29 minutes. Last year there were 3, Chuo University , Tokai University and TKU again. This ...

The 38th Suffolkland Shibetsu Half Marathon took place July 13. Surugadai University 's Kio Furuhashi took the men's race in 1:02:36. His time was a new PB by 32 seconds. A graduate of Iga Hakuho H.S. in Mie, Furuhashi made the National High School Championships in the 1500 m and 5000 m his 2nd year, and ran in the National High School Ekiden two years in a row. At Surugadai he has run at Kanto Regionals and the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai since his first season, making his debut at the Hakone Ekiden itself this past January with an 18th-place finish on the Third Stage. Takuya Hanyu (Toyota Boshoku) was 2nd in 1:02:45, with Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:02:50. Miku Fukuda (Ehime Ginko) won the women's race in 1:14:37. Complete results available here . source article: https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/176217 translated by Brett Larner

In a quest to make its first Hakone Ekiden, Shibaura Kogyo University announced this week that former Surugadai University head coach Kazuyoshi Tokumoto , 45, and former Reitaku University head coach Tatsuya Yamakawa , 40, will take over as head and assistant coach starting in April. In a statement issued by the university Tokumoto commented, "I'm pleased to have been named head coach of Shibaura Kogyo University's track and field team. When they came to feel me I could feel their passion about achieving their dream of becoming the first science and technology university to compete in the Hakone Ekiden. I was happy to accept because I felt that this was an environment in which I could grow too. It's my responsibility to help them become the 45th university ever to compete in Hakone. I hope that you'll enjoy Act II of the Tokumoto Show and cheer us on as Shibaura Kogyo heads down the road to Hakone." Yamakawa's comments read, "I arrived early in Feb...

After having led Surugadai University to its first-ever Hakone Ekiden appearances in 2022 and 2024, Kazuyoshi Tokumoto , 45, announced on Jan. 12 that he is stepping down as head coach. A star Hakone runner during his days at Hosei University , Tokumoto took over as head coach at Surugadai in 2012. In his 10th season in 2021-22 Surugadai made the qualifying bracket at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying race, earning the right to make its debut at Hakone 2022. That was followed up with a second appearance in 2024. Assistant coach Nobuhiro Goto , 42, will take over from Tokumoto in the head coach's role. According to a source, Tokumoto had already informed the athletes, their parents and other involved parties of his decision to leave the program prior to making the public announcement. The announcement makes Surugadai the 4th Hakone contender school to replace its head coach for the 2025-26 season, following Asia University , Reitaku University and Meiji University . Others are...

Ekiden season rolls on, and for everyone who didn't make the top 10 at the Hakone Ekiden's 100th running this past January that means a trip to western Tokyo's Showa Linen Park this Saturday to line up on the runway of the air defense base next door to try to qualify for the 101st Hakone Ekiden . The 43 Tokyo-area universities at the Hakone Ekiden Qualifier Half Marathon , the Yosenkai, each run 10-12 athletes and are scored on the total times of their first 10 finishers. The 10 fastest teams go to Hakone, and the rest go home except for the 10 fastest individuals from non-qualifying universities, who get the privilege of running as part of a select team. NTV will broadcast the Yosenkai and its dramatic announcement ceremony live starting at 9:25 a.m. local time Saturday. If you've got a VPN you should be all set. If not, try mov3.co/ntv . JRN will be on-site at the Yosenkai to cover it live. Chuo University , Tokai University and Tokyo Kokusai University look sure ...

Despite losing Kenyan Peter Wanjiru late in the race, favorite Daito Bunka University repeated as winner to lead the qualifiers for January's 100th Hakone Ekiden at Saturday's Yosenkai Half Marathon in western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park. Collegiate 5000 m and 10000 m record holder Richard Etir of Tokyo Kokusai University led the first 8.5 km in his debut at the distance with a pack of around including lone Japanese man Reishi Yoshida of Chuo Gakuin University right behind. Just before 8.5 km Etir was clipped from behind by Nihon Yakka University 's Dennis Kipruto and turned around to tell him off. A few steps later Kipruto clipped him again hard enough that Etir went airborne horizontal before crashing to the pavement. The favorite for the individual win, Etir never regained contact with the front of the race. And that ended up having profound consequences for Tokyo Kokusai. In Etir's absence Nihon University 's took over at 10 km, quickly getting rid of e...

The Tokyo-area Kanto Region dominates the National University Men's Ekiden Championships every year, almost always filling the top 10 and taking all 8 seeded spots for the next year's race. Kanto Region teams that don't make it run a qualifying race every year, 4 heats of 10000 m on the track with 2 runners per school in each heat. Team scoring is done based on the added time of all 8 runners, with the 7 fastest going on to Nationals in November. This year's qualifier takes place Sunday, with streaming starting at 17:15 local time. Complete entry lists are available here . Start lists and live results are here . Tokai University , Soka University and Toyo University are the clear favorites to make the cut with at least 6 people with sub-29 minute bests on their entry lists. Beyond that things get murky, with 9 schools having 3 or 4 sub-29 guys. Rising programs like Rikkyo University and Surugadai University are among them, so expect to see some of the traditionally...

After a surprise finish outside the top 10 at this year's Hakone Ekiden, Meiji University  was back to do the expected, winning the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai half marathon qualifier Saturday in Tachikawa, Tokyo by over 4 minutes. In windy conditions things went out slowly up front, the lead group of 6 Kenyans hitting the first km in only 3:01. Last year's winner Joseph Lemeteki Razini  (Takushoku Univ.) made a push to get things into gear and Vincent Raimoi (Kokushikan Univ.), James Bunuka  (Surugadai Univ.), Charles Kamau Wanjiku  (Musashino Gakuin Univ.) and Paul Onyiego  (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) all took turns leading, but it wasn't until 14 km for Wanjiku to make a serous move. Running the rest of the way unchallenged, he took 1st in 1:01:23, more than a minute slower than Razini's winning time last year. The only two people in the front group not to take the lead at some point, Samson Ndirangu (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) and Noah Kiplimo  (Nihon Yakka Univ....

On May 30 the KGRR announced the 20 teams that will compete June 19 at Kanagawa's Sagami Gion Stadium at the Kanto Region qualifier for November's 53rd National University Men's Ekiden Championships . Excluding schools already qualified based on their finishing position at last year's Nationals, eligible schools in the Kanto Region were ranked by the combined times of their eight fastest runners over 10000 m in official track races between July 1, 2020 and May 29, 2021. The 20 schools with the fastest combined times were chosen for the Nationals qualifier.  The qualifying event consists of four separate track 10000 m races, each race featuring two runners from each school. Schools will be ranked by the combined times of all eight of their runners at the qualifier, with the seven fastest teams going on to Nationals. Chuo University  occupies the top position in the pre-qualifier rankings. Koku Gakuin University  is 2nd, with Chuo Gakuin University  3rd. Kazuyoshi Tok...

Kenyan James Ndiwa Bunuka took the top spot at Sunday's Yaizo Minato Half Marathon , the first runner from Surugadai University to win in Yaizu's 33-year history. Bunuka had pressure early on from three members of 2017 Izumo Ekiden winner Tokai University , but over the second half he pulled away to win by a 22-second margin in 1:03:49. Haruki Minatoya led teammates Shun Yuzawa and Takeshi Nishida in 2nd in 1:04:11. 第30回記念大学ペアマラソン[結果] 優勝 ブヌカ・ジェームス(1)1'03"49 6位 西沢 晃佑(4)1'05"07 河合 拓巳(2)1'07"25 総合2位 2'08"56 応援ありがとうございました！ pic.twitter.com/q0Ut9Lgr0F — 駿河台大学 駅伝部 (@surugadi) April 8, 2018 Yaizu Minato features a unique "pair marathon" team scoring competition, with universities entering three-runner teams from which the top two's times are combined to produce the pair marathon score. Tokai won the pair marathon in 2:08:28, Surugadai a surprise 2nd in 2:08:56. 21 other teams took part, Asia University rounding out...

5/28 ハーフマラソン 2部 36着 親﨑達朗(駿河台大学) 1:08:37 #関東インカレ pic.twitter.com/oQiGYbmYnH — ミウツー (@miu2_tsc) May 29, 2017 Japan's best meet of the season wrapped up Sunday at Yokohama's Nissan Stadium. Day four of the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships with the men's half marathon, its two divisions running with a staggered start over a circuit course starting and ending inside the stadium. D1 runner-up in the 10000 m Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) took a second-straight title in the D1 race, bettering his winning time from last year by almost two minutes to win in 1:03:22. Back from setting a D2 10000 m meet record of 28:00.66 on Thursday, Simon Kariuki (Nihon Yakka Univ.) set another D2 meet record as he outran Hakone Ekiden champion Aoyama Gakuin University's Yuta Shimoda to win in 1:02:38. #関東インカレ 男子5000m パトリック ワンブィ(日大)13:43.97 pic.twitter.com/xmJ0Y6xrIm — Tさんrunner (@Runner_2653) May 29, 2017 Like the 10000m and half marathon, in...