japan running news

by Brett Larner As usual, the most exciting distance running of the year in Japan took place today with Day One of the 84th annual Hakone Ekiden delivering a wide range of inspiring performances and surprise upsets. Twenty teams made up of the best university runners in Japan raced over the five stage, 108 km championship course. Waseda University won Day One for the first time in twelve years thanks to a stage best time on the 3rd leg by the seriously injured Kensuke Takezawa and a titanic run on the uphill 5th stage by Ryuta Komano, who shocked commentators and spectators alike by coming within seconds of the great Masato Imai`s ‘untouchable’ stage record. Mekubo Mogusu of Yamanashi Gakuin University finally scored the stage record on the ace 2nd leg in his 3rd attempt, while Masato Kihara of Chuo Gakuin University finished as top Japanese on the 2nd stage to confirm that he is the brightest star in the next generation of Japanese distance runners. The biggest shock in many years of ...

by Brett Larner 1st Stage: 21.4 km The 1st stage began with a slow pace of 3:06 per km. 5 km passed in 15:21, 10 km in 31:06 and 15 km in 46:16 with all twenty runners still together. As the 16th km escalated to 2:53, rookie *** of defending champions Juntendo University was the first to drop off with leg pains which almost caused him to stop around 17.5 km. Toyo University`s Tomoya Onishi launched the first attack at 16.5 km, dropping four teams besides Juntendo. Over the next 4 km attacks by East Japan Select Team member *** of *** University, Naoki Sato of Josai University and *** of Komazawa University whittled the pack down to 10. Onishi made his final move with 700 m to go, but Sato was able to respond, taking 1st with 200 m left. (Koma) and *** of Waseda University took the exhausted Onishi just before the handoff zone. 1. Josai: 1:04:37 (Naoki Sato, 2nd yr.) 2. Komazawa: 1:04:40 (***) 3. Waseda: 1:04:41 (***) 4. Toyo: 1:04:41 (Tomoya Onishi, 3rd yr.) 5. Chuo: 1:04:42 (***) 2nd ...

by Brett Larner Team Konica Minolta returned to the top in today`s 2008 New Year Ekiden , winning for the 4th time in the last six years with a time of 4:46:28. Cold, windy conditions prevented any new stage records, but Konica Minolta`s time was still almost one minute faster than last year`s winning time. Defending champions Team Chugoku Denryoku finished 2nd in 4:49:44, while the other pre-race favorite, Team Nissin Shokuhin , had a disappointing day with a 6th place finish in 4:52:11. 37 teams competed over the seven-stage, 100 km course in Gunma Prefecture. Highlights The 12.3 km 1st stage was dominated by African runners, with only Konica Minolta`s Takashi Ota and Team Asahi Kasei `s Ryuji Ono able to keep up. Race rules bar non-Japanese runners from the 22 km 2nd stage, restricting them to the 1st and 3rd leg and thereby forcing teams to waste their best runners on two of the race`s shortest stages. Team Subaru `s Ethiopian ringer Asefa Giruma was first in 34:37. On the ‘ace’...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2007/12/30/soathl130.xml

by Brett Larner What are the world`s great races? Great in the sense of history, atmosphere and something intangible which can`t be bought by PR-savvy race directors with bottomless checkbooks. Races like Comrades and Boston come to mind first. Comparatively unknown outside Japan but standing alongside these races is the Hakone Ekiden . The Hakone Ekiden is the East Japan university men`s championship, a 10-stage, 217.9 km relay race from central Tokyo to the mountain resort town of Hakone and back, held every year on Jan. 2 and 3. The ekiden began in 1920 and has continued uninterrupted apart from a hiatus during World War II. In post-war years Hakone was quickly reinitiated despite the shortage of young men to run; during those years university athletes from other sports were enlisted to run in order to help the tradition continue. The Hakone Ekiden has grown over the decades into a central position within the Japanese distance running world. In the last 20 years it has expanded beyo...

I am generally staying away from writing about my own running in Japan. That said, this morning I did my annual run up the Hakone Ekiden 5th stage, a 23.4 km course starting at sea level, peaking at 874 m after 19 km, then dropping 100 m or so to finish next to a lake in the mountains. It was an inspirational run and doubly exciting as preparations were underaway all along the course for the 84th Hakone Ekiden Jan. 2-3. For those unfamiliar with the Hakone Ekiden, it is nominally the East Japan University Men`s championship race, featuring 19 schools and one all-star team running a 10-stage, 217.9 km course from Tokyo into the mountains and back over the course of 2 days. I say nominally in that Hakone has become the center of much of the Japanese running world, with the top Hakone schools attracting the best runners from throughout Japan, many of whom make this ekiden the focus of their lives and thus do not continue on as professionals after graduation. The level of public enthusias...

http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/sports/news/CK2007122502075007.html http://www.daily.co.jp/general/2007/12/26/0000782494.shtml http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/071113/oth0711132353005-n1.htm translated and edited by Mika Tokairin and Brett Larner Sydney Olympics gold medalist Naoko Takahashi (Team Phiten) left Japan on Dec. 25 for a high-altitude training camp in Kunming, China as part of her preparation for trying to qualify for the Beijing Olympic marathon team at the Nagoya International Women`s Marathon on Mar. 9. In the early morning while on the way to Narita Airport, Takahashi discovered that her ticket was actually for Dec. 26, not Dec. 25. Fortunately, she was able to fly on the 25th. In the past Takahashi has always had trouble before her good races, so this may have been a good omen. Shortly before Takahashi won the 2000 Nagoya International Women`s Marathon to qualify for the Sydney Olympics, she suffered food poisoning while at a training camp in Tokunoshima, Kagos...

JRN's most-read articles of 2007 by month: July Takayuki Matsumiya sets Japanese 5000 m national record.   - July 29 August Kano, Oshima and Ozaki finish in top 10 at NY Half-Marathon.   - Aug. 6 September 'Perhaps the Japanese have Lydiard right.'   - Sept. 4 October Atsushi Sato sets new Japanese and Asian half-marathon record. -  Oct. 16 November 397 under 70 minutes: the 20th Ageo City Half-Marathon.   - Nov. 20 December The Hakone Ekiden: a brief history and preview.   - Dec. 31 (c) 2007 Brett Larner all rights reserved