japan running news

by Brett Larner

Along with weekend's major domestic races, the Ageo City Half Marathon and Yokohama International Women's Marathon, no less than five major ekidens took place across the country. At Saturday's cold and rainy 74th Biwako University Ekiden, the eight stage, 83.6 km year-end championship for men's university teams from western Japan, Kyoto Sangyo University pulled off a third-straight win after a disappointing 2012 season. Never far from the front, Kyoto Sangyo took the lead on the 7.3 km Second Stage, losing it momentarily on the 11.0 km Third Stage to rival Daiichi Kogyo University's Kenyan ringer John Kariuki but returning on the next leg thanks to a stage win by Naoto Nakai. Kyoto Sangyo's next two runners built the team's lead up to 2:18, but a weak run by seventh man Makoto Kan cut the margin by a minute and left anchor Naoya Yoshioka with 1:16 to try to hold off Ritsumeikan University's 1500 m specialist Toshiki Imazeki over 7.7 k…

by Brett Larner
The bulk of the regional university championship track meets took place the weekend of May 14-15, including Tokyo's highly competitive Kanto Regional University T&F Championships. The most noteworthy result of the weekend, however, came at the small Chugoku-Shikoku Regionals, where first-year Aya Takayanagi (Matsuyama Univ.) set a new national junior and national collegiate record in the women's 3000 mSC. Takayanagi, coached by Keiichi Murai, the husband of two-time World Championships marathon medalist Reiko Tosa, ran 10:21.41 to set the pair of new marks, and excellent start to her university career.


The Kanto region is the site of the toughest men's racing in Japan, and the 10000 m is always the highlight of the meet. This year did not disappoint as junior Tsubasa Hayakawa (Tokai Univ.) overcame strong winds to beat defending champion Benjamin Gandu (Kenya/Nihon Univ.) for the win in a PB of 28:41.26 in the Div. 1 race. Hayakawa ran a patient race,…

by Brett Larner

This weekend saw eight major meets across Japan, two university regionals and six corporate team regionals. With too many results to list in detail JRN gives you a quick review of the major performances starting with the university meets. Click each meet or event for complete results.

Kanto Regional University Championships, Tokyo: Detailed in a separate article with video links, Kenyans Benjamin Gando (Nihon Univ.) and Duncan Mozay (Takushoku Univ.) took both windy men's 10000 m heats, Gando in 28:27.18 and Mozay in 29:15.43. The top seven in the A-heat broke 29 minutes, including two Waseda University frosh, Suguru Osako and Fuminori Shikata. Both 18 year-olds now have PBs in the 28:30's, boding well for Waseda's chances this year. Osako lost out in a three-way sprint finish against Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Meiji Univ.) and Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.) who finished 2-3 with Yoroizaka taking 21 seconds off his PB to clock 28:34.12. The women's 10000 m was re…

by Brett Larner

Picking up the pieces from its women's team's loss to crosstown rivals Bukkyo University at last month's Morinomiyako Ekiden, Ritsumeikan University's men followed through on their strong showing at the Izumo and National University Ekidens with a win at the 71st Biwako University Ekiden on Nov. 21. Western Japan's answer to the mighty Hakone Ekiden, Biwako is the season-ending championship event for university men outside the Kanto region.

19 times raced the eight-stage, 84.3 km event, one of Japan's oldest ekidens. Ritsumeikan, Kyoto Sangyo University and Daiichi Kogyo University were the heavy favorites going in to this year's Biwako, and the three followed expectations. Kyoto Sangyo's Kazuki Hayashi (3rd yr.) took the race out hard, clocking 32:55 for the 11.1 km First Stage. Ritsumeikan and Daiichi Kogyo sat in 4th and 5th behind Nara Sangyo University's Tadaharu Amano (2nd yr.) and Masashi Nakatsu (3rd yr.). Ritsumeikan's sec…

by Brett Larner

While the Tokyo-centered Kanto Region is the undisputed center of Japanese university men's distance running thanks to the prestigious Hakone Ekiden, the Kansai Region features two of the top women's schools, the unbeatable national champion Ritsumeikan University and its perennial rival Bukkyo University. This year's Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships was spread out over three weekends, giving distance athletes the possibility of competing in multiple events from 1500 m to half marathon.

The country's top university woman, Ritsumeikan fourth-year Kazue Kojima, scored a matter-of-fact win in the 10000 m on May 8, beating 2008 national university 10000 m champion and second-year teammate Michi Numata by nearly 40 seconds with a 32:55.64 clocking. The real show, however, came in the women's 5000 m on May 16.

Bukkyo third-year Kasumi Nishihara, fresh from an impressive 32:29.59 PB win against Numata and a host of professional and univ…