japan running news

On July 30 the Yokohama District Prosecutor's Office filed charges against Takuma Ishikawa , 21, anchor of Komazawa University 's 2021 Hakone Ekiden winning team. Ishikawa is charged with committing obscene acts with a 17-year-old high school girl in violation of the Kanagawa Prefecture Ordinance of Juvenile Protection. The prosecutor's office did not indicate whether the filing has been approved yet or not. According to the indictment, with full knowledge that the girl was under age 18, Ishikawa committed indecent acts with her on Dec. 20 last year and Jan. 17 this year, and saved video of additional obscene acts with her to his phone in February.  Kanagawa Prefectural Police said that the two met in late October last year through a dating app. Although they met in person both before and after the Hakone Ekiden, police say the girl had no knowledge that Ishikawa was the anchor of the winning team. On January 3 Ishikawa came from over a kilometer behind to dramatically ru...

On May 19 Kanagawa Prefectural Police arrested Takuma Ishikawa , 21, a fourth-year student at Komazawa University , on charges of having had sex with a girl under the age of 18 in violation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youth. Ishikawa admitted he had had sex with the girl, stating, "I thought she was 18." Ishikawa ran the anchor stage at January's Hakone Ekiden, taking the lead to help Komazawa win. According to investigators, Ishikawa is believed to have had sex with the 17-year-old girl, a high school student from Kanagawa, at a hotel in Tokyo on Jan. 17 this year knowing that she was under age 18. Investigators say no money was given or received . Ishikawa is said to have met the girl through social media last October and to have had sex with her on multiple occasions. It is believed that the girl may not have initially known Ishikawa was a college ekiden athlete. Translator's note: Ishikawa was scheduled to run the 1000...

One month ago today . Wasn't this great? Time goes by so quickly these days.

Where to start, really? Yesterday in just its fourth time running the Hakone Ekiden since it first qualified in 2015 and its second season under head coach Kazutaka Enoki , underdog Soka University  pulled off a seemingly out-of-nowhere Day One win . Soka started the return trip to Tokyo today with a 2:14 lead over heavyweights including perpetual top 3 placer Toyo University , 2020 National University Ekiden champion Komazawa University  and 2019 Hakone winner Tokai University , enough to give it breathing room but not a margin of safety. With 109.6 km ahead of them, their lead translated to just over a second per km. Soka's leadoff Day Two runner Masaki Hamano  handled the Sixth Stage, 20.8 km with over 800 m of descent, well, but behind him Komazawa's Yuki Hanasaki nearly cracked the course record, winning the stage in 57:36 and cutting Soka's lead down to 1:08. Soka's most accomplished Day Two runner, Yoshiki Haratomi  fired back on the 21.3 km Seventh Stage as...