japan running news

http://www.komaspo.com/4157

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The 35th Fuchu Tamagawa Half Marathon took place Nov. 23 in Tokyo's western suburb of Fuchu.  In their last road race before the Jan. 1-2 Hakone Ekiden, defending Fuchu Tamagawa winner Wataru Ueno and teammate Toshiaki Nishizawa of 2012 National University Men's Ekiden champion Komazawa University went 1-2.  Both athletes ran well from the start, running together through 10 km before Ueno made a move to go alone into the lead just before 13 km, leaving Nishizawa behind to fade away.  Looking calm and composed he ran as though there was nothing else, taking the win in 1:05:01.  At the other end of the spectrum, Nishizawa's face showed the strain of the second half of the race and he drifted to a distant 2nd in 1:06:20.  In terms of their placing they showed the characteristic Komazawa strength, but neither athlete was able to reach his time goal.  Both athletes gave comments after the race.

Wataru Ueno
I was st…

by Brett Larner

A week out from the National University Ekiden Championships, the Kanto region men's scene became even more complicated as Izumo Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University, already holding ten men with sub-14 PBs for 5000 m, six of them with 10000 m bests under 29 minutes, added another name to its top ranks.  Junior Toshiaki Nishizawa took nearly a minute off his 10000 m PB as he finished 13th in the Nittai Univ. Time Trials 10000 m A-heat in 28:51.05 to give Komazawa crucial depth beyond the ten men necessary for January's Hakone Ekiden.  Nishizawa's step up puts further pressure on defending national and Hakone champ Waseda University and on this year's Izumo winner Toyo University.

The injury-plagued Waseda's chances did take a turn for the better as sub-29 senior Takuya Nakayama, son of former 10000 m and marathon national record holder Takeyuki Nakayama, returned to competition after sitting out most of his sophomore and junior years.  Nakayama fin…

by Brett Larner
photo (c) 2011 Dr. Helmut Winter

Just three weeks after running a PB of 2:28:49 at the Berlin Marathon, Eri Okubo (Second Wind AC) continued her outstanding year by lopping 3 minutes off her half marathon best with a 1:11:22 course record win at the 30th Ichinoseki International Half Marathon in Ichinoseki, Iwate.  Rain until shortly before the start of the race had little impact on the otherwise good conditions as Okubo clocked the fourth-fastest half of the year by a Japanese woman, admittedly in a year which saw the cancellation of the spring half marathon season following the March disasters.  Okubo's rapid progress this year ranks her as the top member of the Second Wind club following the departure of ace Yuri Kano.

In the men's race, Komazawa University's Takahiro Gunji had a narrow win in 1:06:01 over Koku Gakuin University's Nozomu Hashisaka and pro Kazuyoshi Tokumoto (Team Nissin Shokuhin) who went 1:06:04, and Hashizaka's teammate Shinobu A…